Blind to my Love
by kylieskatz22
Summary: Riker likes the girl next store. He keeps flirting with her, but she doesn't seem to notice. She's still hurt from her last breakup. Will Riker ever ask her out? Or will she be blind to his love forever?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **Riley POV**

It was the beginning of summer. I was so excited to spend it with my boyfriend, Dylan. Now that it was summer, we wouldn't be busy all the time with school stuff. We were finally free!

I left my house and walked down the road to the beach. I sat down in a chair and closed my eyes. It was nice to finally relax for once. I was always so stressed out all the time from school!

I heard footsteps behind me, so I turned around to find Dylan standing there.

"Hey, Dylan!"

"Riley, I have to tell you something."

"What's wrong?"

"I'm… breaking up with you."

"You're what!?"

"I'm sorry. I just… It wasn't working for me anymore. I'm sorry. I have to go."

"Dylan, wait! Why are you doing this!?"

"I'm sorry Riley."

I watched Dylan run up the hill, get in his car, and drive away, leaving me here all alone.

The next few days were all a blur for me. I spent every moment I had, shut up in my bedroom. My mom would bring me my meals, and I would eat alone in my room. I had told my mom that Dylan broke up with me, and she felt bad, and tried to get me to come out of my room. But my heart was broken, and I just wanted to be alone.

Then, my parents had to leave suddenly to take care of my great grandfather on the other side of the country. He had been taken to a hospital because he fell. But they didn't leave me here alone. My aunt, uncle, and little cousin stayed with me. They basically just moved into my house for now. But that didn't change anything. I still stayed in my room all the time.

I was pretty sure my parents had told them about what had happened with me and Dylan. My aunt made it clear that I could talk to her if I wanted to, but no one tried to force me into talking. And they acted a little strange around me. It seemed like they were trying not to say the wrong thing.

 **A Few Days Later…**

 **Riley POV**

I'll admit, staying in my room all the time wasn't helping. So today, I decided to walk down to the beach. When I got there, I saw a blond boy who I didn't know, walking around. He seemed to be looking for something. I guess he heard me walk down here, because he turned around.

"Oh, hi! My name's Riker," he said, walking over to me.

"Hi. I'm Riley. Uh… Are you looking for something?"

"Oh, no. I was just looking around. My family and I just moved here today. I was just taking a look at the beach."

"Wait. Did you move into the red house?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"That's right across the street from my house."

"Cool!"

"Yeah."

"Uh… So do you know some places in town…? Like I mean… I don't really know what's around here."

"Well, we're about 10 minutes from Lake George, and 10 minutes from Bolton Landing. Lake George is where all the tourists go. The town of Bolton is much more relaxed. But there's supermarkets, and restaurants, and… What did you want to know exactly?"

"I don't know. I guess… I just… I don't know…"

"Were you trying to find somewhere in particular?"

"No…"

"Well if you need anything, I live right across the street."

"Ok, thanks. Actually, there might be one thing…"

"What is it?"

"Do you think maybe you could give me a tour around the town tomorrow?"

"Bolton or Lake George?"

"Bolton."

"Sure."

"Cool. Thanks."

"What time?"

"Uh… Does 11:00 work for you?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, I'll see you then."

"Ok."

I was giving blond boy a tour of the town tomorrow. I barely even knew him, and I was giving him a tour. That just seemed weird to me. I couldn't even remember his name… Well, he would probably say it again tomorrow…

 **The Next Day…**

 **Riley POV**

I woke up to the sound of someone knocking on my door.

"Come in!" I called, still half asleep.

"There's a boy here to see you," said my aunt.

I looked at the clock. It was only 8:30. We weren't supposed to go out for our tour until 11:00.

"Uh… Ok, send him in," I said, trying to fix my hair.

The guy who came into my room was blond, but not the same blond I had seen yesterday.

"Uh… Hi," said the blond.

"Hi…?"

"Uh… My name is Ross. I think you met my brother yesterday."

"Yeah."

"Well he said I should come ask you for help."

"Help with what?"

"Uh… We have a friend staying with us for the summer. His name is Ellington. He rented this kayak and went out about an hour ago. He just texted us a few minutes ago and said he got stuck in some rocks. Riker was wondering if maybe you had a kayak so we could go out and help him."

Riker! That's his name!

"Well, I have a kayak, but have _you_ gone kayaking before?"

"No."

"Well then _I_ should probably go out instead."

"Uh… ok…?"

"Do you know where he got stuck?"

"Uh… He said he went around some island. I don't really know…"

"Ok. I know where that is. Let me change, and I'll go try to help him."

I grabbed some clothes, changed in the bathroom, and walked with Ross down to the beach. But I wondered why Ross had come to ask me for help instead of Riker. Ross didn't even know me…

"Ok, can you help me get my kayak?" I asked.

"Sure."

Ross and I walked over to the kayak rack, got my kayak down, and put it in the water.

"Ok, hopefully we'll be back in between 30 and 60 minutes," I said.

"Ok."

 **20 Minutes Later…**

 **Riley POV**

I finally rounded the corner of the island and saw a guy in a red kayak trying to do _something_. I wasn't sure what exactly. But I figured it was the guy I was sent to rescue.

"Hey, are you Ellington?" I asked, gliding towards his kayak.

"Yeah. Who are you?"

"Uh… I'm here to rescue you," I said.

"Oh…"

"You were probably expecting Ross, weren't you?"

"Yeah."

"He was going to borrow my kayak, but since he had never kayaked before, I figured I'd better go instead and not risk the both of you ending up stuck somewhere."

Ellington laughed.

"Ok, well I'm stuck. I don't know how though. There are rocks all over and I'm in the middle. I don't know how I did that…"

"Ok, well I have an idea," I said, moving up close to Ellington's kayak.

"What?"

"You, carefully get onto my kayak, and we'll pull yours over the rocks. Then you can get back on. Sound good?"

"Yeah."

Ellington carefully climbed onto my kayak and sat at the tip. I grabbed onto his kayak, and pulled, but it was heavy.

"Here, let me help," said Ellington.

"Ok, but be careful."

That was the exact opposite of what he did. He yanked the kayak as hard as he could, but it slipped out of his hands. He flew backwards, tipping the kayak over.

"UGH!" I screamed, when I came back up to the surface.

"Sorry," said Ellington, laughing slightly.

I rolled my eyes. I was all wet! And the water was freezing!

Ellington swam over to his kayak and pulled it free. I flipped my kayak back over, got on, and started paddling back to our beach.

"Hey! Where're you going?" Ellington asked.

"Back to the beach…?"

"What about me!?"

"Your kayak's free. You're not stuck anymore."

"Well yeah, but I don't exactly remember how to get home or which beach is ours."

"Ok fine. Hurry up. I'm freezing."

Ellington and I paddled back to our beach and arrived there 20 minutes later. I was really mad that I was wet. When we got to the shore, Ross and some guy with brown hair were waiting for us. I pulled my kayak onto the shore and stormed up the hill and back to my house to get dry clothes.

When I got to my house, my aunt, uncle, and little cousin were all sitting on the porch eating breakfast.

"Riley, what happened?" My uncle asked, laughing.

I ignored him and stormed to my room to get changed.

 **11:00**

 **Riley POV**

I walked past my aunt and uncle on the porch, and went to wait outside for Riker to show up. He better not be late.

A few minutes later, Riker came out his front door and walked across the street to where I was waiting, leaning against my house with my arms crossed.

"Sorry. I'm late, aren't I?"

"A little bit," I said, sharply.

"Sorry."

I rolled my eyes and got in my car. Riker got in too, and we drove off towards the town of Bolton Landing.

I parked on the side of the street. We both got out.

"So where do you want to go?" I asked.

"Uh… I don't know."

"Well what do you want to do?" I asked.

"Uh… Show me around."

"Ok…"

"Are you alright? You seem a little… I don't know…"

"Well I didn't have the greatest morning."

"What happened?"

"Your friend Ellington, he tipped over my kayak when I was rescuing him, and I was soaking wet and freezing."

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry. He can be a little crazy sometimes."

I rolled my eyes, and started walking.

I led Riker through the town. We passed a bunch of shops and restaurants.

"Riley?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm getting hungry. Do you think we could get something?"

"Yeah. Did you want to go to a restaurant? Or just get ice cream or something?"

"Uh… Ice cream sounds good."

"Ok, well where do you want to get it? There's a bunch of ice cream places here."

"Uh…"

"How about we go to Bob's ice cream shop? That's just down the street a little."

"Ok."

Riker and I walked to Bob's ice cream.

"So what are you going to get?" Riker asked.

"Oh, nothing. I didn't bring any money."

"I'll buy you something."

"Riker, you don't have to, really. I'm fine."

"No, please let me. It's the least I can do for you. You sacrificed your day to show me around, and I'm really sorry about being late and what happened with Ellington."

"Ok…"

"So pick something! What do you want?"

"I guess I'll get chocolate ice cream."

"Only chocolate? What about all the toppings and stuff?"

"Nope. I like just plain old chocolate."

Riker ordered and paid for our ice creams. He just some strange flavor with a ton of different toppings. It actually looked a little bit gross, but he seemed to be enjoying it.

"Come on. Let's finish our ice cream in the park. I haven't showed you the park yet."

"Ok. What's it called?"

"Roger's park. It's on Lake George. There's a beach, tennis courts, and giant rocks."

"Cool!"

 **Later…**

 **Riker POV**

After Riley and I got back, I thanked her again, and went to find Ellington. He was playing videogames with Rocky.

"Ellington, can I talk to you for a minute?" I asked, poking my head through the doorway.

"Yeah sure, one second. We're almost done with this level."

Ellington came out of the living room a few minutes later.

"What's up Riker?"

"I wanted to talk to you about what happened this morning."

"What do you mean?"

"You flipped Riley into the lake!"

"Oh. That…"

"Yeah! That! Why did you do it?"

"I didn't exactly mean to. It just kind of happened."

"Well what if the drummer for R5 just kind of got kicked out of the band?"

"You wouldn't do that!"

"No, I wouldn't. But still, you shouldn't have done that! She was really upset."

"Ok, but why are being so defensive of her? You only just met her."

"Because if I were her, I wouldn't like getting knocked into a freezing cold lake either!"

Ellington rolled his eyes.

"Ellington, seriously. Be more careful."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can I go back to playing videogames now?"

"Sure, whatever…"

"Great!"

 **Riley POV**

"Hey Riley, can I talk to you for a second?" My aunt asked, coming into my room, and closing the door.

"Yeah…? Why? What's going on?"

"Uh… We were just wondering what you did today. Starting with coming back soaking wet this morning, and ending with coming home with the guy who lives across the street. Who is he?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because we know you broke up with your boyfriend, and we just want to make sure you're ok. We were just curious if that guy was your boyfriend, and if you got back together with him or not."

"No. He's not my boyfriend. He just moved here a few days ago. I was showing him around town today."

"Ok. Well what happened this morning?"

"I went to go rescue his friend who had gotten his kayak stuck. He flipped my kayak, and that's why I was soaking wet."

"Oh… Ok."

"Anything else you want to ask me while you're here?"

"Uh yes, actually. Are you ok? Like because of everything with your boyfriend?"

"I'm… trying…"

"Ok. Well you know you can talk to me or your uncle about anything, any time, right?"

"Yes. But it's rare that I'll ever talk about something like this. I barely even tell my parents anything."

"Ok. I understand. But I just wanted you to know that we're here if you want to talk."

"Ok. Thanks."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **The Next Day…**

 **Riley POV**

"Hello?" I answered my phone.

"Riley?"

It was my ex boyfriend, Dylan.

"What do _you_ want?" I asked, mad that he called me.

"You know how I left a bunch of stuff at your house?"

"Not really. You only left a few videogames and movies. That's it."

"Well I expect you to find everything that's mine and give it back to me by tomorrow morning when I come to your house at noon."

"You _expect_ me to find everything by then and have it all ready for you by noon?"

"Yup."

"You're out of your mind."

"You know, I could just call the police and say you stole it all."

"Dylan, come on. What's your problem?"

"My problem is, I'm missing all my stuff! You better have it all ready for me by noon tomorrow."

"Wait, I can't."

"Why not?"

"I'm working tomorrow. I won't be home."

"Riley, all I'm saying is that you better have my stuff ready for me by noon tomorrow. I really don't care if you're there or not."

"So can I just leave it in a box outside?"

"You'd risk someone stealing it?"

"Dylan, what do you expect me to do?"

"I don't care what you do as long as I get all my stuff back."

Dylan hung up before I could say anything else. He was so ridiculous! I didn't know what I was supposed to do now. He just made me so mad!

I started crying, just thinking about Dylan. I was angry. Angry because I was stupid enough to go out with him in the first place. Angry because I _let_ him make me mad.

So I spent most of the day in my room. I didn't want to see anyone or talk to anyone. I just wanted to be alone, but that was probably a bad idea because all I thought about was Dylan.

I reluctantly grabbed a box from the basement, and gathered up all of his stuff. He had left 4 videogames, 2 movies, a shirt, a swimsuit, and a sweatshirt here. I put everything in the box, and set the box on the floor near the end of my bed.

 **Later that night…**

 **Riley POV**

"Hey Riley?" My uncle called through the door.

"Yeah?" I answered, wiping the tears off of my face.

"Your dad said I could take the boat out. Do you want to come?"

"No."

My door opened, my uncle walked in, and sat down on my bed.

"Riley, please let me take you out on the boat. I want to talk to you."

"Why?"

"You're not ok."

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not. You've been crying all day."

"I have not!"

"Riley."

"Ok, maybe I have."

"Come on. We'll be on the lake. Nobody else will be there. We'll be alone. You can talk to me about what's been going on."

"I don't really want to."

"Riley, please? I'm trying to help you here."

"I don't need help."

"Riley."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Ok, then will you come on the boat?"

"What do you mean?"

"I won't make you talk, but I'd still like to take you out. You've been locked in your room all day. And the fresh air will make you feel better."

"I don't have to talk?"

"Only if you want to."

"Ok, deal. Let's go. But wait. How are you going to see in the dark?"

"Your dad told me how to put on the boat lights. We'll be fine."

"Ok."

My uncle and I walked down to the beach. We got on the boat, unhooked it from the dock, and took off across the water.

"So what was that box of stuff by the foot of your bed?" My uncle asked.

"I thought you said I didn't have to talk."

"Riley, please? I'm worried about you. Your parents are worried about you. They keep asking us how you're doing, and I don't know what to tell them."

"Fine, I'll tell you _this_ , but nothing else, ok? I'm fine."

"Ok."

"My ex, Dylan, called today. He demanded that I get all the stuff he left here, and give it to him tomorrow at noon. But I won't even be here at noon because I'm working. I told him that, and he doesn't care. He's just being difficult."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know. He won't let me leave the box outside since he doesn't want to risk it getting stolen, but there _is_ no risk. Do you think _you_ could give him the box tomorrow?"

"I would, but I can't. Your cousin's girl scout thing is tomorrow. We won't be home until late. It's in Connecticut."

"Oh. Well, it's ok. I'll think of something."

"I'm sure you will. You're a really smart girl, Riley. That's why I can't understand why you're wasting your time crying over Dylan."

"Because I loved him! We dated, and did stuff together! And now he's gone, and he won't tell me why! Why _wouldn't_ I be upset!?"

"Because he's just a stupid guy! You'll get over it, move on, and find another guy!"

"I don't _want_ another guy."

"Riley, you shouldn't be set on getting back together with Dylan."

"I'm not. I don't want him either. I don't want anyone. I don't want to go through that again."

"Riley that's ridiculous."

"Take me back."

"Take you back where?"

"Home. I want to go home."

"Riley-"

"It's late, I'm cold, upset, and I want to go home. You said I didn't have to talk, and you made me talk. I want to go home. Please take me home."

"Riley, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"Take me home."

"Ok…"

I didn't even wait for the boat to get tied to the dock. I got off the boat, and walked down the path to the beach so I could go home, and get away from my uncle. I was crying and really upset that he did that to me. Instead of becoming closer to me, he was pushing me away.

I got to the beach, and could barely see anything. I realized I should've brought a flashlight. And then I saw something move. My first thought was a wild animal. A bear, maybe. But thankfully, I was wrong.

"Riley! I was looking for you! Your aunt said you were down here," said Riker.

"Riker, what are you doing here?" I asked, completely confused.

"You seemed a little off when we went to Bolton. I just wanted to make sure you were ok. Wait. Oh my god, are you crying?"

"Riker, look. I have to go," I said, walking up the hill to the road.

"Riley wait! What's going on!?"

"Nothing, Riker," I said, as I kept walking.

"Riley wait! Are you ok!?"

Riker grabbed my hand as I walked, and pulled me to a stop. I turned around to face him.

"No. I'm not," I whispered, starting to cry again.

"Riley, come here," Riker said, pulling me into his arms.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, and cried into his shoulder. My uncle came walking down the path and passed us on the beach.

"Riley, I guess I'll just meet you at home," said my uncle, as he kept walking.

I kept crying into Riker's shoulder while he rubbed my back slowly.

"Riley, what happened?"

I took a step back and faced him.

"Nothing. I have to go!" I said, running away, up the hill and down the road to my house.

"Riley, wait!" Riker called.

I ignored him and went home anyway.

 **Riker POV**

How did that girl run so fast!? I couldn't run up the hill as fast as her, and was out of breath within 30 seconds. I had to stop and catch my breath.

But what had happened? Why was she so upset? Why wouldn't she tell me what was going on?"

Even though something told me I shouldn't, I went after her anyways.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **Riker POV**

I slowly walked to Riley's house. When I got there, I knocked on her door, and her uncle answered it.

"You're Riker, right?" Her uncle asked.

"Yeah. Is Riley here?"

"Uh… She is, but why are _you_ here?"

"Because she's upset about something and I just wanted to make sure she was ok."

"Alright... She's in her bedroom. It's the last door on the left, down the hall."

"Thanks."

I walked down the hall until I got to Riley's door. I knocked softly.

"Riley?"

No answer.

I turned the doorknob slowly, and opened the door. Her room was dark, but I could see she was in bed.

"Riley? Are you ok?" I asked, moving closer to her bed.

"Why are you here?"

"Because I wanted to make sure you were alright."

"Really?"

"Yeah. What's going on?"

"Nothing."

"Riley-"

"I'm fine, Riker."

"Well is there anything I can do for you?"

"Not unless you'll be here at noon tomorrow."

"Why?"

"I doesn't matter. I was kidding."

"Riley, I'll be here. What do you need me to do?"

"You're serious?"

"Yes. I want to help you. I'll do anything."

"I have a box. I need you to give it to my ex when he comes here to get it tomorrow."

"Why can't you?"

"I'll be at my job."

"Oh. Did you tell him that?"

"Riker look. It's complicated. He's coming at noon tomorrow, and if he doesn't get his stuff back, I'll be in big trouble. Are you really serious about doing this, or not?"

"Yes I am! What do you want me to do?"

"I have to leave at 11:30 for my job. I need you to come over then. And I guess just wait for him to show up, give him his stuff back, and then you can go home."

"What's his name?"

"Dylan."

"Ok. I'll be here."

"Thanks, Riker."

"No problem. Can I ask you something else?"

"What?"

"Are you upset because of something that happened between you and Dylan?"

Riley sighed. I immediately regretted asking that.

"Yes. He broke up with me a few days ago, and he didn't tell me why. And he's being a jerk. He called and practically demanded that I find all his stuff by noon tomorrow. I just want him out of my life."

"I'm sorry he did that to you."

"Thanks."

"Well, I should probably be getting home now. It's getting kind of late."

"Ok. Uh… Riker?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for coming over. It means a lot that you cared."

"You're welcome," I said, smiling.

 **Later…**

 **Riker POV**

I sat down on the couch next to Rocky, and sighed happily.

"What's up with _you_?" Rocky asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Why are _you_ so happy?"

"No reason."

"There's got to be a reason."

"Nope."

"Where were you tonight?"

"Uh… At the beach."

"Anywhere else?"

"Riley's," I said, softly.

"Ah. That's why."

"That's why, what?"

"That's why you're so happy."

"What are you talking about?"

"You _like_ her!"

"I do not!"

"You do so!"

"Rocky, I do not! She's just a friend."

"Not for long…"

"Oh stop that!"

"Just admit it, Riker!"

"I will _not_ admit it, because it's _not_ true!"

" _Ok_ …"

"Oh shush!"

 **The Next Day…**

 **Riker POV**

"Wait, Riker! I need you to help me move this to the basement!" Ross shouted.

"I can't! I'll be late!"

"For what?" Rocky asked, stepping into the room.

"Uh… Nothing..." I said.

After everything Rocky said last night, I didn't need him to know I was going to Riley's. He would just make fun of me even more.

"Riker, what are you late for?" Rocky asked again.

"Nothing. But I have to go!" I shouted, running out the door and across the street.

I just hoped he didn't see me go there. I knocked on Riley's front door.

"Riker! You're here! Great!"

"You're surprised… Why?"

"Because I wasn't really expecting you to actually come here. And you're on time!"

"Of course I am. I didn't want you to be late."

"Well, thanks. Come in. I'll show you where the box is. I guess you can just chill in my room until 12:00. Sound good?"

"Yeah."

"Ok. So the box is on the floor at the end of my bed. Dylan should be here around noon. Just give him the box, and then you can go home."

"Ok."

"Thanks so much, Riker."

"No problem, Riley."

"Alright. I have to go. Thanks. Bye!"

"Bye Riley!"

 **12:00**

 **Riker POV**

I saw a car pull up out front. The guy driving it had all the windows down and the sunroof open. I grabbed the box of stuff and raced out the door.

"Are you Dylan?" I called.

"Yeah. Who are _you_?" Dylan called from his car window.

"I'm… Riker."

"What kind of a name is Riker?" Dylan asked, laughing.

"It's _my_ name and I like it!"

"Well where's Riley? I want my stuff back."

"She's at work."

"That's just like her. Going off somewhere just so she could mess up my plans…"

"Shut up! She loved you! It's wrong for you to talk about her like that! Nothing you're saying is true!"

"And how long have _you_ known her?"

"Uh… A couple of days…" I said quietly, looking at the ground.

Dylan laughed.

"You're even more pathetic than I thought you were!"

I ran up to Dylan in his car. I took Riley's box and dumped everything out through Dylan's sunroof.

"Hey! What are you doing!?" Dylan shouted.

"There. You have all of your stuff back. Now leave. This is a private road, and you have no reason to be here. I could call the cops."

"Alright, alright. But Riley will pay for this," Dylan said as he drove off.

I slowly walked back over to my house, a little scared by what Dylan meant when he said Riley would pay for that.

"Hey Riker! You're back!" Rocky called from the living room.

"Uh… Yeah…"

"Are you ok?"

"Uh… yeah…"

"Where were you? What happened?"

"Nowhere. Nothing happened. I'm fine."

"If you say so…"

 **Later…**

 **Riley POV**

I had just gotten back from my job at the bookstore when I heard someone knock on my door. Since my aunt, uncle, and cousin weren't here, I had to answer it.

"Hey Riley."

It was Riker.

"Hey Riker, come in. What's up?"

"Uh…"

"Did you give Dylan his stuff back?"

"Uh… yeah…"

"What's wrong?"

"Uh… Riley, I need to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"Uh… Well I met Dylan today. He was really rude to me. I got really mad and… I kind of… dumped his stuff in his car through the sunroof…"

"You what!?"

"Yeah…"

"Riker!"

"I'm so sorry Riley! He just made me so mad!"

"No, Riker. It's not that. Thank you. That's actually really awesome!"

"Really? So you're not mad?"

"No. He totally deserved that!"

"Ok. Good. But… There's something else I need to tell you…"

"What?"

"Dylan… He said that he'd make you pay for what I did. And I'm really sorry I did that."

"It's ok. I don't think he'll actually do anything."

"Ok, good."

"At least I hope he won't. Whatever… It doesn't really matter."

"What would he even do?"

"Well he's threatened me before. I mean like with a knife. He kept a lot of secrets, and he told me that he'd hurt me if anyone ever found out about them. He never did, but I never told them to anyone, either."

"Do you think he'd really hurt you?"

"I don't know. I'd like to think that he wouldn't, but sometimes he gets this crazy look in his eyes that makes me wonder what he's really capable of."

"Wait, then why'd you love him? Why were you upset when he broke up with you? Shouldn't you be happy?"

"I'm glad that he's not here to threaten me anymore, but I loved him. He always took me out to amazing restaurants and stuff. He was like 2 different people. He would be sweet and charming one minute, and a crazy psychopath killer the next. I mean, he never killed anyone, but he acted like he wanted to."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Can we… not talk about this anymore? It's starting to screw with my brain a little bit."

"Sure. Sorry."

"It's ok."

"Well… I should probably go now."

"Ok."

"Are you going to be ok, Riley?"

"What? Yeah. Why?"

"I don't know. You just seem… weird…"

"No, I'll be fine."

"Are your aunt and uncle home?"

"No. They actually called me today on my way home. They were supposed to come back tonight. They're in Connecticut right now. But their thing is going to run longer than they thought, so they're just staying in a hotel tonight, and driving back in the morning. My uncle asked me if that was ok. They would have just come back tonight if I had wanted them to, but I said I was fine. I'm 16 years old. I can spend 1 night home alone."

"Ok. Well if you need anything, I'm across the street."

"Ok."

"Oh, let me give you my number. You can call me if you need anything. I heard it was supposed to rain tonight. I don't want to make you go out in the rain if you need something."

"Oh, thanks."

Riker wrote down his number for me, and then left. The sun was just setting when I took a shower. I got in bed, and opened my windows. It was really hot in here. The rain brought cool air, and it felt really good after a long, hot day.

I fell asleep thinking about Dylan. He wouldn't _really_ hurt me. Would he?


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 **Riley POV**

Dylan had me pressed up hard against the wall in my bedroom.

"I told your friend with the stupid name I'd make you pay for what he did," said Dylan, taking out a knife.

"Dylan, no! Stop! You don't want to do that! You'll go to jail!"

"Even if I do go to jail, I'll know that you can't mess anything else up!"

"Dylan, come on! If you stop right now, I won't tell anyone, I promise! Please!"

"You think I'll believe that?"

"Dylan please, stop!"

"Say goodbye, Riley."

Dylan brought the knife up to my neck. Before he did anything else, I screamed.

I woke up, and I realized I had actually screamed just now. I sat straight up in bed and looked around my room. It was completely dark, but I had a scary feeling inside of me. Next to me, my window was open, and it was raining. But I could hear footsteps on the rocks outside. Whoever was out there, was running. And they were getting closer. I was all alone. My aunt, uncle, and cousin were in Connecticut. And right then, I realized I had left the front door unlocked. Whoever was outside, was at my house, opening the door. I knew it had to be Dylan. He was here to hurt me. I jumped out of bed since that would probably be the first place he would look for me. I had to find somewhere in my room to hide, and fast. I hid under my desk and pulled a blanket over myself. I heard the doorknob to my door turn. My door opened, and I heard someone walk in. My heart was beating so hard I was sure whoever it was, could hear it.

"Riley?"

"Riker!?"

I threw the blanket off of myself and got out from under my desk. Riker was standing in my room. He was wearing black pajama pants and wasn't wearing a shirt.

"Riley what's going on? Are you ok?"

"I thought you were going to kill me!"

"Riley- What!? Come sit down. Why are you crying? What's going on?"

Riker and I sat down on my bed.

"I'm sorry. I was really scared! Why are you even here?"

"My bedroom window was open. I heard you scream and I thought something was wrong, so I ran over here. Now what's all this about you thinking I was going to kill you?"

"Not you. I thought you were Dylan."

"Why did you think I was Dylan?"

"I had a dream that Dylan was going to kill me. Right before he was going to, I screamed, and I woke up screaming. I heard you running across the street and I thought you were Dylan, coming to kill me. And I realized I had left the front door unlocked, and he would find me for sure."

"I'm so sorry Riley. I should've never dumped Dylan's things in his car like that."

"Riker, it's fine."

"No, it's not. I've got you paranoid that Dylan's going to kill you!"

"Riker, I'm ok."

"Riley… I'm _so_ sorry."

I looked into Riker's eyes, and I knew he truly felt bad. He looked really concerned.

"Riker. It's ok. I'm fine."

"Riley, you're still shaking."

"So I'm not ok… But I'm just a little scared. What are _you_ going to do about it?"

"I'll stay here until you calm down."

"Riker, it's like 3:00 in the morning. Go home. I'll be fine. My aunt and uncle are coming home tomorrow morning. I'll be fine until then."

"Riley. Are you sure?"

"Yes."

I looked up at Riker again. He didn't seem like he believed me. I didn't really believe myself either. I was still really scared to be alone. But I wasn't about to make Riker stay here for hours."

"Riley, are you _really_ sure?"

Well no, I'm not… And why isn't he wearing a shirt?

"Riley, do you want me to stay here with you? I don't mind, really. I don't want you to spend the night alone if you're scared."

"Riker-"

"Riley, come on. It's ok. I really don't mind. What do you say?"

"Uh… Well you'll have to sleep on the floor…"

"I don't care. That's fine."

"Well… Ok. Thanks, Riker."

"No problem."

I got some blankets out of my closet, and handed them to Riker. He spread them out on the floor, next to my bed. I pulled a pillow off of my bed and handed it to him.

"Thanks Riker."

"You're welcome. If you need anything, you can totally wake me up. I won't mind. I just want you to feel safe."

"Ok. Good night."

"Goodnight Riley."

 **Later…**

 **Riker POV**

While I was concerned about Riley being able to fall asleep, I had forgotten to consider the possibility that _I_ wouldn't be able to fall asleep. I had probably be laying here for almost 2 hours. And now, I had to go to the bathroom. But I didn't want to wake Riley up. Instead, I snuck out the front door and over to my own house.

I snuck back over to Riley's house and shut the door. I crept back to her room to find her wide awake, hugging her knees to her chest, staring right back at me.

"Riley?"

"You're back! Where were you!? I thought you might have been Dylan!"

"Sorry! I had to go to the bathroom, so I went back to my house."

"Riker, that's crazy!"

"I didn't want to wake you up! But I guess I ended up waking you up anyways…"

"No you didn't. I woke up because I had another dream about Dylan. I saw you were gone, and I thought you had gone home for the night. And then I heard someone come in my house, and I thought it was Dylan."

"Riley, I wouldn't leave you like that!"

"Well I didn't know! I'm just scared that Dylan's going to do something to me!"

"I'm so sorry, Riley! I shouldn't have left without telling you. I'll be more careful."

"When? You're acting like we'll be spending a lot of time together or something."

"Uh… I don't know…"

"Well it's almost 5:30. My aunt and uncle will be here in a few hours. You can go home if you want."

"Do you _want_ me to go home?"

"Well, no. But I just thought I wouldn't make you stay here if you didn't want to. I feel bad. I made you jump out of bed in the middle of the night."

"I know, but I don't care. I'll stay with you until your aunt and uncle get back."

"Thanks. Did you get any sleep?"

"Honestly, no. I was worried you wouldn't be able to sleep, but it turned out, I was the one who couldn't sleep."

"Aw. I'm sorry. Do you want to try to get some now?"

"Yeah."

"Ok. Sounds good to me."

 **Later…**

 **Riker POV**

I sat down on my couch, exhausted. I had only gotten a few hours of sleep last night. But it was totally worth it because I got to see Riley. But I was still really concerned about her. I don't think she was telling the truth when she said she was ok. I think she was scared. Really scared. But I didn't blame her. Dylan did seem pretty creepy to me. He was one of those bad boys. They could be unpredictable.

"And where have _you_ been?" Rocky asked, sitting next to me.

We shared a room, so there was no way of getting out of this one.

"I was at Riley's."

"Why?"

"Because…"

"What did you guys do?"

"Nothing."

"Really?"

"Really."

" _Really_?"

"Really, Rocky! She just needed me there."

"Why?"

"It's not my place to say. You can ask her if you really want to know."

"Are you guys a thing yet?"

"What? No! Why would you think that?"

"Because you like her. Does she like you back?"

"Rocky, I'm not talking about this. You don't need to know about my love life."

"But I _do_ know that you like Riley."

"Rocky!"

"Admit it, and I'll stop."

"Rocky-"

"Admit it!"

"I… I like Riley…"

"Ha! I knew it! Does she like you back?"

"Hey, you said you'd stop!"

"I will, after you answer that question."

"Rocky-"

"Hey, either _you_ answer it, or I'll ask Riley."

"Rocky! Do _not_ do that!"

"Ok, so answer it then."

"I don't know…"

"Can't you tell?"

"No! And it's driving me absolutely insane! I can't tell what she thinks! I mean, I know she likes me as a friend, but as something more than that… I don't know…"

"Well what are you going to do?"

"Nothing…"

"Nothing!?"

"What am I supposed to do!?"

"I don't know. Maybe… ASK HER OUT!"

"I can't do that! What if she doesn't like me back? And then things are all awkward! I could ruin our friendship!"

"You barely even have a friendship! You've only known her for a few days!"

"Well I don't want to ruin that!"

"Well then good luck with your life, Riker. Because in life, you need to take risks, and if you don't, you're going to miss out on a lot."

I looked down at the ground. I knew he was right, but I was scared!


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **A Few Days Later…**

 **Riley POV**

"Riley?"

My uncle came into my room and sat down on the end of my bed. I looked at him.

"Riley, what's going on? You've got me and your aunt really worried."

"Why?"

"You seemed like you were getting better, but ever since we came back from Connecticut, I just feel like you've gotten worse. You haven't said anything to us, you stay shut up in your room, and you seem really jumpy all the time. What's going on? Did something happen while we were gone?"

"No. I'm fine."

"Riley, you're not fine."

"Yes I am!"

"Riley-"

"Why do you even care!? You're not my father! You're only my uncle!"

"Riley. I care so much about you. And your parents care too. But they can't be here right now. So it's part of my responsibility to make sure you're ok. And you're not. I need to do something to fix that."

"Well good luck."

"Riley, please tell me what's going on."

"I don't want to."

"Why not?"

"I don't trust you like that!"

"Why don't you trust me?"

"Because this is personal. You barely know me even though you're my uncle. I see you on holidays, and that's basically it. You can't just fall into my life one day, and expect me to trust you like we've been best friends for years."

"But Riley, I'm your uncle. You know you can tell me anything. And if you have any problems, I'll try my best to solve them. I love you Riley, and I just want you to be happy."

"I love you too, but I'm still not telling you. I'm sorry. But if it makes you feel any better, I probably wouldn't tell my parents either," I said, getting up and walking out of my room, leaving my uncle sitting on my bed.

I sat in the living room, and waited to see what my uncle would do next. He went out on the porch, so I decided to eavesdrop and see what he was telling my aunt.

"We need to do something about Riley," said my uncle.

"What can we do? If she refuses to talk to us, what are we supposed to do about that?" Said my aunt.

"I know! I think she trusts that blond boy who lives across the street. We could ask him. Maybe Riley's told him about what's been going on, or maybe he knows something," said my uncle.

He wouldn't dare pull Riker into this, would he?

"That's a great idea. Then maybe we can help Riley," said my aunt.

I could see my uncle walking over to Riker's house. All I could do was sit at the window and wait and see what happened. But I was almost positive Riker would tell him what's been going on. Riker just seemed to want me to be happy, and if telling my uncle what was going on helped, then I was sure that he would.

 **Riker POV**

I answered the door, and Riley's uncle was standing there. I was scared at first that something had happened to her. Maybe Dylan did something…

"You're Riker, right?" Riley's uncle asked me.

"Yeah."

"Can I talk to you about Riley for a minute?"

"Sure."

"She's been acting strange since we came back from Connecticut a few days ago. We know you guys have spent some time together, so we thought maybe you knew what was going on with her."

"What do you mean exactly?"

"Well, she broke up with this guy, and she's been shut up in her room because she's upset. She seemed to be getting better, but when we got back from Connecticut, she seemed to be going downhill again. She won't tell us anything, and we're really worried about her. Do you know if something happened while we were gone?"

If Riley didn't tell her uncle, she probably had a good reason not to, so I wasn't going to say anything.

"Uh… I'm not sure. I don't really see her that much."

"Well has she said anything to you lately?"

"No, not really."

"Are you sure you don't know anything?"

"I really don't. Sorry."

"Well, I better go. I'm going to try talking to her again. Thanks anyways, Riker."

 **Riley POV**

As soon as I saw my uncle come out of Riker's house, I ran to my bedroom. I didn't know what was coming, but I knew there would be something. It might be yelling, or talking to me like I was 5, or something else. But I was dreading the next conversation I would have with my uncle.

After a few minutes, my uncle came back into my room and sat down next to me on my bed.

"Riley."

"What?"

"Please let us help you."

"I don't need help."

"Riley, yes you do."

"No I don't."

"Riley, this isn't normal! Most teenagers want to be out of the house during the summer. You're acting like it's winter and you're stuck inside! You need to get out of the house more!"

I was confused. He knew something. But why wasn't he saying it? Maybe he didn't want me to know that he knew. Whatever… But I'm totally going to kill Riker later.

"Right now, I'm your guardian while your parents are away. Some parents ground their children. I'm doing the opposite. Starting tomorrow, you need to be out of the house for at least 3 hours every day."

"You can't do that!"

"Yes I can! I'm in charge of you!"

"But that's ridiculous!"

"Well if I see a change in you, then maybe I'll take it back. But I think it will help you."

"Well you know what I think? I think it's stupid, and I really wish mom and dad hadn't picked _you_ to watch over me!"

I stormed out of the house and down to the beach. My uncle didn't want me in the house anyway. I was starting my reverse grounding a day early.

 **Riker POV**

I noticed Riley walking down the road to the beach. She was probably upset with whatever her uncle had said, so I decided to go talk to her.

After I got down to the beach, I saw Riley sitting on the edge of one of the docks. I walked down, and sat next to her. She looked really annoyed, and didn't say anything, so _I_ said something.

"Are you ok, Riley?"

"Do I look ok!?"

"Well, no. That's why I asked."

"Well I'm not. And it's all your fault!"

Riley got up and started walking back to the beach.

"Riley, wait!" I called, running after her.

I caught up with her and grabbed her hand. She immediately pulled it back.

"Do _not_ touch me again!"

"Riley, wait. Can we talk about this?"

"No. Stop following me!"

"Riley!"

"You don't get it, do you? I don't want to talk, Riker!"

"But Riley! What did I do!?"

"You know what you did!"

"No I don't!"

Riley kept walking up the road.

"Riley, tell me what I did! I seriously have no idea!"

"Right, you have no idea."

"Riley, I don't!"

"You told my uncle what happened!"

"What!?"

"You told him about Dylan, and that night, and everything! I know he went over and talked to you! Why are you lying to me?"

Riley was now crying. I could tell she believed that I was lying, but I wasn't! And I was really upset that she was upset. But Riley had finally stopped walking up the road. She was facing me now with her hands on her hips, tears starting to run down her face. I walked up to her and put my hands on her shoulders.

"Riley, I swear, I'm not lying. Your uncle came over and he asked me if I knew about anything going on with you. But I told him I hadn't seen you lately, and I didn't know. I didn't tell him anything."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Because I figured that if you didn't tell him, you probably had a good reason not to, and I didn't want to mess anything up."

"I _do_ have a good reason. I don't trust him."

"Why not?"

"Because one night he took me out on our boat. He told me he wouldn't make me talk if I didn't want to, and he totally lied! And now I'm stuck with him until my parents come back, but that could be weeks!"

"Why? Where are they?"

"They're taking care of my great grandfather. He fell, and they're just helping him until he gets better and stuff."

"So wait. Did your uncle say anything about me?"

"No. But he's punishing me for not telling him anything."

"What's he doing?"

"He's making me leave the house for at least 3 hours every day because he thinks it's bad for me to be locked up in my room every day."

"So where are you going to go?"

"Probably just down to the beach or something."

"What about your job?"

"I quit."

"You quit!? Why?"

"Because I didn't want to work anymore! I didn't like it, and I was worried I would see Dylan."

"You're still worried about him?"

"Yeah. It's killing me! I think about him and what he might be planning every day!"

"Is there anything I can do?"

"No. But I have to go. Bye Riker."

"Bye Riley."

 **I'm so sorry I haven't uploaded lately. Here's the link to my youtube video that shows where this fanfiction takes place. My cabin would be Riley's house, and the red house right across from it would be Riker's. If you're still here reading my fanfiction, thanks so much. ;)** /hILm8lfvn8A


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

 **The Next Day…**

 **Riker POV**

I saw Riley walking down to the beach, and figured she would be there for at least the next 3 hours. After yesterday, I wasn't sure if she was still mad at me or not, so I decided to go see what she was up to. I really liked her, and even though I probably shouldn't even think about asking her out because of the whole Dylan thing, I should at least start doing some things to make it up to her. And even though I didn't exactly do anything wrong, I didn't want her to be mad at me. I didn't know if she even believed me or not. But I was falling more and more in love with her every day. And I just wanted her to be happy.

I walked down to the beach, and found Riley where she was yesterday, sitting on the edge of one of the docks. I walked down, and sat next to her, just like yesterday.

"Hey Riley."

"Hey Riker."

She was upset about something. I could hear it in her voice already.

"What's up?"

"Oh you know, just down here for 3 hours."

"Sorry…"

"You didn't do anything!"

"I know, but I just feel bad."

"Uh… Ok…?"

"So what are you doing for the next 3 hours?"

"Probably sitting on this dock."

"That's it? Isn't that boring?"

"Yup. But I have nowhere else to go. No money to get gas to put in my car, no job to work at, nothing to do, nowhere to be."

"Well do you want to do something with me?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know. We could go somewhere, or we could do something here at the beach. Whatever you want."

"I don't know."

"Well what do you feel like doing?"

"I don't know…"

"Ok, then let's stay here at the beach."

"Ok, and do what?"

"Uh… We could go swimming."

"I don't really feel like it. The water's cold."

"Ok… Uh… We could go kayaking."

"Please, I don't want to have to rescue you too."

"Ok… Uh… We could make a sandcastle."

"A sandcastle? What do you think I am? 5?"

"Riley, what do you want to do then? I've made so many suggestions. If you don't like any of them, then how about you tell me what you really want to do."

"I don't know what I want to do. I want to go home, but I can't."

"Ok, well until you make up your mind, I'm going to build a sandcastle. Feel free to join me."

 **Riley POV**

I followed Riker back to the beach from the docks. I sat in a chair and watched him. He seemed to be uncomfortable. And he didn't really seem to have a plan in mind. He didn't have buckets or anything, so he just kind of started pushing sand up into a big mound with his hands. I could tell he was trying to be proud of it, but it was just a giant mound of sand. It wasn't really something to be that proud of.

"Do you like it so far?" Riker asked.

"It's a pile of sand," I said.

"It's a sandcastle."

"It's a pile of sand."

"No it's not!"

"Riker, tell me what the difference it between this, and a pile of sand."

"Uh…"

"Exactly."

"Riley, I'm trying! I'm really trying to make you happy. I feel bad that you don't have anything to do for 3 hours, and I'm really trying here. Can't you just lighten up a little?"

"Why do _you_ feel bad? It's my own fault."

"But I was the one who dumped Dylan's things, and then I made you scared, so you got worse, and then you got punished, and it all just feels like it's my fault!"

"Riker, it's not your fault. It's mine. And sometimes, it just feels good to be grumpy, and not want to do anything. I'm upset, and I just don't feel like making piles of sand, or swimming, or kayaking. I just want to sit here, and be upset, and go home in 2 hours and 51 minutes."

"I can't let you just stay here all alone."

"Why not?"

"Because I'll feel bad for leaving you."

"Why? You barely even know me. Why do you care so much?"

"I just want you to be happy, ok?"

"Well I'm not, and I won't be, today. Why don't you just go home, and enjoy the day. You don't have to be stuck down here with me."

"But I _want_ to be down here with you!"

"Why!?"

"Because… Because you're really fun to be with."

"Yeah, ok. I'm going to pretend I believe that."

"Riley, seriously!"

"Riker, go home. Go do something fun. Being down here with me, definitely isn't fun."

"But Riley-"

"Go, Riker!"

Riker slowly walked up the road. But I didn't care. I was tired of people pretending they cared about me. First Dylan, then my uncle, and now Riker. I was all alone, with nobody on my side, for at least the next 2 hours and 47 minutes.

 **Riker POV**

When I got home, I slammed the front door. I was really mad at myself for making Riley upset.

"Whoa, what's going on?" Rocky asked.

"I could just kill myself, Rocky!"

"Why?"

"I made Riley upset!"

"What did you do?"

I sighed.

"Nothing. She's just mad at me."

"Did you ask her out yet?"

"I don't think she even likes me!"

"Well you should ask her out anyway!"

"I can't now! She's mad!"

"Well maybe if you took her out to a nice restaurant, she wouldn't be mad anymore."

"I don't know, Rocky. I don't want to push her to do something if she doesn't want to."

"Fine, then stop complaining about how you did this, or Riley did that. If you're not going to take me up on my suggestions, then stop complaining!"

I walked back outside, and decided I _did_ want to do something. I wanted Riley to notice me! She just thought I was annoying, but I wanted her to like me! This would be the first step at least to get her to fall in love with me.

I walked down to the beach and found Riley in the same chair she had been in before.

"Riley, can I talk to you?"

"Riker, why are you back?"

"Because I'm really sorry for making you mad. I didn't mean to."

Riley rolled her eyes.

"Riley, please. Let me make it up to you."

"How?"

"Can I take you out to lunch?"

"I mean… I guess so…"

"Great! Let's go!"

"Right now?"

"Yeah, sure!"

"Uh… Ok."

Riley and I walked up the road, got in my car, and left. And then I realized something. I had no idea where I was going.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

 **Riker POV**

"So where are we going exactly?" Riley asked.

"Uh… It's a surprise," I said.

I had no idea where I was going. I wasn't sure if I would even be able to find my way back. But I could worry about that later, hopefully when Riley and I were on good terms again.

I found Lake George Village, and picked a restaurant there. I parked on the side of the road, and we walked in and got seated.

"I'm paying. Order anything you want," I said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Ok."

"What are you going to get?"

"I don't know. I can't decide. I guess I'll get… A hamburger."

"A hamburger? You could pick anything!"

"Nah. I just want a hamburger."

"Ok, well if you're getting a hamburger, I'm getting one too."

"Riker, you don't need to do that."

"I want to."

"Alright…"

 **Later…**

 **Riker POV**

I couldn't tell if things had gotten better between me and Riley, but I knew they definitely hadn't gotten worse.

"Hold on a second. Someone's calling me," Riley said, before getting up and walking outside to take the call.

While Riley was outside, I paid for our food, brought our leftovers outside, and waited for Riley to finish her call.

"So. Who was that?" I asked.

"My uncle. He thought I was down at the beach, so when he went down there, and I wasn't there, he was worried. I told him I was in Lake George with you, and he was glad."

"But you're not in trouble or anything?"

"Nope."

"Ok, good. Do you want me to take you home, or do you want to walk around town or something?"

"Let's walk around town. I want to show my uncle that he's not punishing me, and I'm enjoying being away from him, even though that's not exactly what he intended. But I don't care. I'm away from him, and that's all that matters. Well, and that Dylan isn't here."

So she's not happy to be here with me. She's happy because she's away from her uncle. But she's away from her uncle, with me. So does that mean anything?

"Ok, well where do you want to go?" I asked.

"Let's go walk on the sidewalk by the water."

"Ok."

Riley and I spent the whole day in Lake George. We walked all over, had dinner at another restaurant, and I even bought her ice cream. When it started getting dark, I took her back home.

"Thanks for taking me out today. I had a really fun time," said Riley.

"Well thanks for letting me. Are you still mad?"

"No… I'm sorry. I was just in a really bad mood this morning. My uncle's just being a total jerk."

"It's ok. I get it."

"Thanks. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow. I have 3 hours of nothing to do every day now… I'll figure something out…"

"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow, Riley."

"Bye Riker."

I watched Riley go inside, and then I went to my own house and sat down next to Rocky in the kitchen.

"So, did you ask her out!?" Rocky asked.

"No, I didn't."

"Riker! Come on! Someone's going to beat you to it!"

"I don't know… I'm trying to be really nice and stuff… Well I'm actually trying to flirt with her, but I guess it wouldn't exactly be flirting because it's not working! She's like completely blind to it! I mean, she likes me as a friend, but I don't think she ever sees me as anything more than that."

"Well maybe if you took her out on a date, that would change things."

"But I don't want to risk it!"

"Riker, get a grip! This is life! You _need_ to take risks! Everything isn't going to be presented to you on a silver platter! It's hard! You need to work for what you want! Now, how about you get off your butt, walk over to Riley's, and go ask her out!"

"Yeah, I guess I could."

"Alright, then go!"

I walked out the front door, stopped, and walked right back in.

"Riker, what happened now?"

"There's no way I'm doing that, Rocky."

"Aw Riker, come on! You were so close!"

"Nope. I can't do it. I just can't!"

"Fine. But I'm done trying to help you."

"Rocky-"

"Riker, you won't do anything! I'm done. It's a waste of time."

"Fine. I'll see you upstairs then, I guess."

I walked upstairs to our bedroom, changed, and fell asleep thinking about Riley.

 **The Next Day…**

 **Riley POV**

When I had gotten home last night, I hadn't spoken to my uncle. I knew he would want to talk to me today though.

I walked out into the kitchen to find my uncle sitting there, almost as if he was waiting for me.

"So Riley, tell me about what you did yesterday," said my uncle.

"I don't know. I just went out with Riker and we did stuff. That's it."

"Went out as in a date?"

"What!? No! He just took me out for lunch, and then we walked around town for a while. Then it got later, so we had dinner, and then ice cream. And then I came home. Why do you want to know?"

"Because I'm still worried about you, Riley! It's my job to know where you are, and make sure you're ok. I'm just making sure everything's find, and I just wanted to know what went on yesterday."

"Can I go now?"

"Well that depends. Where are you going?"

"I thought I'd get my 3 hours over with this morning. Better sooner, rather than later. I was just going to go to the beach. Well, unless Riker want to bring me somewhere again."

"Really? Is he planning on taking you somewhere?"

"What? No. I was being sarcastic. I probably won't even see him today. Why are you so obsessed with him?"

"I'm not obsessed! You just never tell me anything, so I was curious."

"Yeah, I never tell you anything because you're not my father, and I don't trust you."

"Riley-"

"It's your own fault anyway! You can't even defend yourself because it's _your_ fault! My parents are coming home in a few weeks. Stop obsessing over my life! Pretty soon you'll be gone, and you'll only have to see me on holidays!"

"Riley, wait! Nothing you're saying makes any sense. Let's talk about this for a minute!"

"No! I'm done talking! I've said enough! You always try to make me talk, and I never want to! If you're trying to get closer to me, you're failing! You're pushing me so far away, I don't know if you could save this!"

I ran out the front door before he could say anything else. But of course, he had to come chasing after me.

"Riley, wait!"

"Stop following me! My life is already awful enough as it is, you're just making it worse! Just stop already!"

I took off down to the beach, thankfully without my uncle.

 **Riker POV**

I watched Riley's blowup with her uncle through the window. I decided to go talk to him, and maybe help him fix things with her.

I walked outside, still wearing my pajamas, and walked over to Riley's uncle.

"You're Riley's uncle, right?"

"Yeah… You're Riker, right?"

"Yup. What's going on with Riley?"

"I wish I knew."

"Well why is she mad at you?"

"I keep trying to get her to talk to me about what's going on in her life. I'm not trying to control what she does or anything, I just want to know what she's doing, and make sure she's ok. Ever since she broke up with her boyfriend, she's been a completely different person."

"How?"

"Well she's depressed all the time. And she seems really jumpy, but alert. I think she has a lot of anger and feelings bottled up inside, and she's the kind of person that bottles things up, and then explodes. So I'm just worried about her. Obviously I'm not her father, but her parents are trusting me to take care of her until they come back, and I don't want anything to happen to her. And… I think she has a lot of secrets. I can tell there are things she hasn't told me, things that she should, but hasn't. I'm just worried. And she doesn't understand that I'm trying to talk to her because I care! She just thinks I'm being annoying or something. How does she act around you? Does she tell you anything?"

"No, not really."

"Just wondering… She never really tells anyone anything, but it seemed like you guys were close, so I thought maybe she had told you something."

"Not really…"

"Ok. Do you think maybe you could talk to her for me? Just like, try to make her understand that I care about her, and I'm not just trying to be annoying or whatever?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Thanks, Riker. You know, I'm glad you and Riley are friends. You're a really nice boy, and I'm glad she has you."

I smiled, and felt my cheeks turning red. I said goodbye to Riley's uncle, and then walked down to the beach to go find Riley. I saw her sitting in a chair near the water, with her hands covering her face. I assumed she was crying again.

"Riley?"

"What do you want?"

"Can we talk for a minute?"

"I don't want to."

"Uh… Ok. Well… Do you want to do something then?"

"I want to get away from here."

"Ok. Do you want me to drive you somewhere?"

Riley looked up at me. Her eyes got wider, and her mouth fell open as she gasped.

"Yes! Yes I want you to!"

Her face fell, and she looked at the ground.

"What?" I asked.

"You'd never do it. It's crazy. Never mind."

"Riley, come on. Where do you want to go?"

"Well… It's kind of far away, and my uncle would never approve. But I really want to go anyway."

"Where?"

"But if you loaned me some money, I could drive myself, and I could go, and you wouldn't have to be involved."

"I'll loan you money. How much?"

"I don't know."

"Riley, where are you planning on going exactly?"

"You have to promise not to tell."

"I promise."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

 **Riker POV**

"I want to go to California," said Riley.

"You want to _drive_ to California!?"

"Yeah."

"Why!?"

"Because that's where my parents are. I don't want to be stuck here with my uncle anymore. So can you loan me some money?"

"Riley, I don't think this is a good idea."

"Riker, I can't stand living here with him anymore!"

"Riley, it's only a few more weeks!"

"That'll be forever!"

"Riley, come on. You can't drive to California! And especially not if you don't tell your uncle! He'll freak out! That's crazy!"

"Everyone always thinks I'm crazy! I'm _not_ crazy!"

"Riley, you're _not_ crazy. I meant that the idea was crazy."

"Well are you going to loan me money or not?"

"Riley, I really don't think you should go."

"I'll go _insane_ though!"

"Riley-"

"I can't take it anymore!"

"Riley, calm down! What's so bad about your uncle?"

"He always tries to get into my business! And I'm sick and tired of it!"

"Riley, I'm sure we can find a solution that doesn't involve going to California. That's all the way on the other side of the country. You don't want to do that."

"I guess you're right… But I still hate living with my uncle!"

"Well I'm sure we can come up with a solution."

"Ok, go ahead then if you think it's so easy."

"Uh well… Couldn't you just deal with him for a little bit longer?"

"Riker, you don't know how close I am to exploding right now. I can't deal with this anymore! I'm so sick and tired of him! I at least need a break from him if I'm going to stay here."

"What do you mean by a break?"

"I mean, I need to get away for a few days."

"Riley, he'll never let you do that. Where are you even planning on going anyway?"

"I'll stay at a hotel or something. There's tons of hotels in Lake George."

"How are you going to get there?"

"I'll walk."

" _Walk_!?"

"Yeah. It's only like 10 miles. If I start right now, I can probably get there by dinnertime."

"Riley, that's not a good idea."

"Riker, what else can I do?"

"You could stay at my house."

"Your house? I barely even know you. And wouldn't it be weird for my uncle? He'd think it was strange that I'm staying at some guy's house. I mean, maybe if you were a girl, but… I don't think it's a good idea."

"Well I have a sister. You could say you were having a sleepover with her."

"You have a sister?"

"Yeah. And 3 brothers, and a friend staying with us."

"Wow. I never knew that."

"So how does that sound? You could stay at my house, get a break from your uncle for a little bit, and you wouldn't have to get in trouble."

"Ok, I guess so. Thanks. I feel like you keep saving me from bad situations. You're like… always there somehow…"

I smiled.

"So do you want to come meet my sister?"

"Sure."

Riley and I walked up to my house. I led her upstairs and down the hall to Rydel's room, and knocked on the door.

"Rydel?" I called.

"Yeah?"

"I want you to meet someone."

Rydel opened the door, and we went inside.

"Riley, this is my sister Rydel. Rydel, this is my friend Riley. She lives across the street, and she needs somewhere to stay for the next few days. I thought maybe she could sleep in your room."

"Sure! But if she lives across the street, why does she need a place to stay?"

"It's complicated."

"Ok. When is she staying, and how many nights?"

"Uh… Tonight, and probably 3 more nights after that."

"Ok, sounds good."

"Riley, do you want to go pack and tell your uncle and stuff?"

"Yeah. Will you come?"

"Sure. We'll see you later Rydel."

"Ok, bye!"

I followed Riley back over to her house. Instead of going to her room, we went into the kitchen and found her uncle instead. I was proud of Riley for making a smart decision, and I was proud that she was going to tell her uncle instead of just leaving.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Riley asked her uncle.

"Yeah. What's up?"

I was awkwardly standing off to the side. I silently motioned the question "Should I go?" to give Riley privacy, but she shook her head no. I was secretly really happy she wanted me there.

"I know things between us are a little rough right now. And I'm sorry for acting like a jerk for the past couple of days, but my life is really crazy right now. I'm stressed out, and I just don't want to talk about anything. I just need to get away for a few days. And before you say anything, I thought about leaving in the middle of the night, driving to California, and not telling you, but Riker convinced me not to. And then I thought about getting a hotel room in Lake George, and not telling you. But Riker convinced me not to do that either. So for the next few days, I'm staying across the street at Riker's house. I'm staying with his sister Rydel. I really didn't want to come tell you this, but Riker thought I really should, and I trust his judgement, so I did. I'm going to go pack now," said Riley.

"Riley, wait. Thank you for telling me. And thank you for not leaving in the middle of the night without telling me. I think it's a good idea for us to have a break for each other too. And Riker, thank you for convincing her not to go anywhere, and stay at your house."

Riley turned and started walking to her room. I followed.

"I'm really proud of you, Riley," I said.

"Why?"

"Because you talked to your uncle, and you're not going off in the middle of the night."

"Well… Thanks for being there for me. You've saved me from a lot, recently."

I helped Riley pack some of her clothes, and stuff like her computer, and then we headed over to my house. I showed her around, I introduced her to my siblings and Ellington, and I helped her get settled in Rydel's room.

 **Later that night…**

 **Riker POV**

I was woken up by Rydel around 2:00.

"Riker, come with me."

"Why? What's going on?"

"Riley can't sleep. She didn't say anything specifically, but I can tell there's something bothering her."

"Oh, ok. I'll talk to her."

"Wait, she's not in my room. She's downstairs on the couch."

"Ok."

I walked downstairs, found Riley, and sat down next to her.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Why are _you_ here?"

"Rydel woke me up and told me you couldn't sleep."

"Oh. I'm sorry she woke you up."

"It's ok. So why can't you sleep?"

"I don't know."

"Riley, what's wrong?"

"I just… I don't even know… I miss my parents, I'm worried about Dylan, and… I don't know…"

"Are you ok? Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, not really."

"Is there anything I can do? Anything you need?"

"No."

Riley remained on the couch, hugging her knees to her chest, staring at nothing. I knew I couldn't leave her like that.

"Riley, I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what? Why do you apologize all the time? You did nothing!"

"I'm sorry I talked you out of going to California. You would've been happier there."

"No. Riker, it wasn't a good idea. I'm glad you talked me out of it. And I'm glad you're letting me stay at your house. That was a really nice thing for you to do for me. I'm glad I'm here, Riker."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

Riley pulled me into a hug. She always gave me butterflies when we hugged. I was falling deeper and deeper in love with her. I could always notice the little things about her. One of my favorite things was her smile. But not her "I'm trying to trick Riker into thinking I'm ok" smile. I loved her smile when she was genuinely happy, like the night we went to Lake George and got ice cream.

"Riker?"

"Yeah?"

"I… changed my mind…"

"What do you mean?"

"Can I tell you something?"

"Yeah, you can tell me anything, Riley."

Riley hesitated for a minute.

"Dylan… Sent me a text tonight."

"Is he threatening you?"

"No… Uh… He… He wants me back."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

 **Riker POV**

"He… wants you back!?"

"Uh… Yeah…"

My heart started racing at a million beats per minute. I wanted her to be mine so badly.

"W-what are you going to do?" I asked, nervously.

"Riker, I'm not getting back together with him!"

"You're not?"

"No way! But I haven't told him yet."

"Why not?"

"Because… Well… He didn't _just_ ask me to get back together with him…"

"What else?"

"Well… He kind of threatened me..."

"Riley!"

"I know! He threatened that if I don't get back together, he'll make me regret it."

"Riley, we need to call the police."

"No! We can't! Dylan will kill me!"

"Riley, this isn't ok. He can't threaten you! We need to do something about this!"

"No! Riker, please! No! We can't!"

"Riley…"

"Riker, please don't."

"Riley, this could be dangerous. You said earlier that you trusted my judgement. I really think we should call the police. They can fix this."

"Riker. Please, no."

I sighed. It was late. We could discuss this more in the morning. Riley and I both needed our sleep.

"Fine. We'll talk about this more tomorrow."

"It _is_ tomorrow."

"Riley, in the morning, you know what I mean. You need to get some sleep. It's late."

"I don't know if I can even fall asleep."

"Come on, let's go back up to Rydel's."

"Isn't she sleeping?"

"Well… Probably…"

"I don't want to wake her up. I'll just stay down here."

"Riley, she won't mind. Really. It's fine."

"No, I'll just stay here, alone."

She was being difficult. But maybe I could slightly take advantage of the situation…

"Riley, I'm not letting you stay down here all alone."

"You're going to stay with me then?"

"Yeah, is that ok?"

"Yeah!"

Maybe that's what she wanted all along…

"But how are we going to sleep down here exactly?" Riley asked.

"We can pull up the footrests."

"Ok."

Riley and I got all situated for the night. She was on one end of the couch, and I was on the other. There was only one blanket downstairs, and I fought with Riley until she agreed to take it. Sure I was a little bit cold, and trying to sleep sitting up was a bit uncomfortable, but I was with Riley. And that made it worth it.

For the next 20 minutes, Riley kept shifting. I knew she wasn't sleeping, and I thought she was probably uncomfortable like I was.

"Riley? Are you still awake?" I whispered.

Riley turned to me.

"Yup."

"Come lay out across the couch."

"What do you mean?"

"Put your footrest down, and lay across the couch as if you were the only one sleeping on it."

"But you're sitting on it."

"I know. You can lay on my lap."

"Really? You don't mind? Aren't you uncomfortable?"

"Not really. Go ahead."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Ok. Thanks."

Riley laid her head on my lap, and pulled the blanket up to her shoulders. I rested my hand on her side. Before I knew it, I was fast asleep.

 **The Next Morning…**

 **Riley POV**

I woke up to Riker gently shaking my shoulder. At first I was totally confused. But then I remembered where I was, and what had happened last night.

"Good morning," Riker said.

"Good morning… What time is it?"

"About 7:30."

"7:30!? Why are we up this early?"

"Sorry. I had to go to the bathroom. And you were kind of on top of me."

"Oh. Sorry. Go," I said, sitting up.

Riker got up and left, so I laid back down, closed my eyes, and fell back asleep.

 **Riker POV**

When I got back, Riley was sleeping again. I gently pushed her up, slid back into my spot, and laid her back down on me again.

A little while later, Ellington and Rocky came down to play videogames. They usually got up before everyone else to play because they were obsessed with this particular game, and wanted to play it every second they could.

"Whoa, what's going on _here_?" Rocky asked, walking over to me.

"Shhh. Nothing. She had a rough night, so we slept down here."

"Oh… Well do you want to play with us?"

"Sure."

Ellington handed me a controller. We started at a really hard level, since that was where they had left off. But I wasn't that good at this game, so I kept needing help.

By the time Riley had woken up, it was almost 11:00. She turned so she was lying on her back, and looked up at me. At this particular moment, the game was paused because Rocky was getting breakfast. I was staring off into the distance. But I was brought back into reality when Riley's finger tapped the tip of my nose.

I looked down at her, startled.

"Hi," said Riley.

"Hi," I said, laughing.

"What are you doing?"

"I was playing videogames with Rocky and Ellington."

"For how long?"

"Mmm… A few hours."

"What time is it?"

"It's around 11:00."

"11:00!? That's crazy!" Riley said, sitting up.

"Do you want something for breakfast? I think Rocky's making pancakes."

"Sure. Come with me?" Riley asked, pulling at my hand.

"Ok," I said.

I don't know what happened, but I like this Riley. She seems happier, less stressed out, and she's holding my hand. This is already an amazing day.

 **Later…**

 **Riker POV**

"So what are we doing for dinner?" Riley asked me.

"Uh… Well on Tuesdays, we usually go out somewhere. But we don't have to go where everyone else is going. We can go wherever you want."

"Uh… Do you think we could just order a pizza instead? I don't really feel that good. I just want to have dinner, and go to bed early."

"Ok. That works. Is there a pizza place in particular you want to order from?"

"Uh… Yeah. There's a place called Pizza Mania. I think I have their number in my phone."

"Where's your phone?"

"Uh… I don't know… Can you help me look?"

"Yeah."

After we found Riley's phone, which was under the couch, I ordered a pizza. Everyone else in the house left to go to some restaurant in Lake George. I paid the pizza guy, and brought the pizza into the living room.

Riley walked into the room a few minutes later. She was wearing her pajamas, but it was only 7:30.

"Why are you wearing your pajamas?" I asked.

"Because I'm tired, and pajamas are comfy," Riley said, sitting down next to me.

"Ok… Well the pizza's here."

"Oh cool."

After Riley and I had dinner, I put my pajamas on. Everyone was still out in Lake George, so I decided now was a good time to ask Riley why exactly she was acting the way she was. I'm not complaining, in fact, I love that she seems to be happier, but I'm just worried there's something she's not telling me.

I sat down next to Riley on the couch.

"So," I started.

"Yeah?"

"Why are you… like… different?"

"What do you mean?"

"Since this morning, you just seem happier, less stressed, and… like… I don't know exactly… Maybe… More comfortable…?"

Riley looked confused.

"Like this morning for example. The whole tapping my nose thing. It was funny and unexpected. It just didn't seem like something you would do, I guess. Whenever I see you, you're always just… stressed about something or worried… I don't know…"

"Well there's something about you that's just really calming. You make me feel at home, and just… like nothing else matters."

"So you're happy you're staying at my house?"

"Yeah. It's been a lot of fun so far. Especially playing videogames with Rocky, you, and Ellington."

"Yeah, that was fun. I didn't know you were a gamer."

"Yeah. I love videogames. It's too bad I don't have a brother. I'm usually stuck playing videogames by myself. But how did you keep dying!? It was as if I had played the game before, and you hadn't. But that's completely the opposite."

"Yeah… I don't know. I'm just not really that good at that game," I said, as I felt my cheeks getting warmer.

Riley laughed.

"I'm sorry," said Riley.

"For what?"

"Riker, you're as red as a tomato! But why are you embarrassed?"

"Because you're better than me!"

"So? Girls can do anything guys can. You shouldn't be embarrassed."

"Well… Thanks."

"So what are we going to do now?"

"Wait. I have one more question."

"What?"

"Aren't you worried?"

"About what?"

"Dylan."

"No. I'm at your house. Even if he was going to do something to me, I'm at your house, and he doesn't know that."

"Did you ever text him back?"

"No…"

"Do you think that's bad?"

"Uh… I don't know… I don't know what's worse, not texting him back, or telling him I don't want to get back together with him…"

"Well that's a good point."

"Ok, so what are we going to do now?"

"Uh… We could… watch a movie, play a board game, play videogames, uh…"

"Can we go for a walk?"

"A walk where?"

"Down to the beach."

"In our pajamas?"

"Yeah."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"What if people see us?"

"So what? Who cares what they think?"

"Really?"

"Yeah. If you want to go for a walk wearing pajamas, you should. It shouldn't matter what anybody else thinks."

"Well… ok. Where are we going?"

"Down to the docks."

"Why there?"

"I don't know. I just want to."

"Ok, works for me."

Riley and I walked down to the docks, and sat down on the end of one. We stuck our feet in the water. The sun was going down, and it was almost dark.

Riley sighed.

"What?" I asked.

Riley turned to me.

"Well… There have been so many times I've come down here when I was upset about something. I can remember just sitting down here for hours. But now I met you. And I'll always have you to talk to."

She was melting my heart without even trying. The butterflies were back, and I just wanted to scream because she was so perfect.

"Riker? Are you ok?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I don't know. You just seemed weird for a second."

"No, I'm fine."

"What is it?"

"Nothing, I'm fine."

"Ok, well do you want to go back up to your house? We could watch a movie."

"Ok, sounds good."

Riley and I went back to my house, and picked out a movie. About halfway through, I felt something on my shoulder, so I turned to look. Riley was fast asleep. I shut off the TV, and moved her to my lap. I was stuck in the same position for the second night in a row. But I didn't care. Riley and I seemed to definitely be growing closer together, and I couldn't be happier.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

 **Riley POV**

When I woke up, I almost screamed. I had forgotten that I had fallen asleep on Riker. That's pretty embarrassing… And Riker looked really uncomfortable too. But he was still sleeping. After a few seconds, I realized I had totally been staring right at him. That's really creepy. But he looked so… I don't know… Different, I guess… I wasn't sure what I was thinking. But I had just woken up. My brain wasn't even working right yet…

I sat up and moved a little further from Riker. Why hadn't he woken me up last night? He didn't have to sleep on the couch again. Ugh! Now I feel bad.

Riker moved a little in his sleep. I heard movement in the kitchen, so I decided to see what was going on, and leave Riker to continue his sleeping.

Rocky and Ellington were in the kitchen cooking something for breakfast. I sat down at the counter.

"Hey Riley," said Rocky.

"Hi. What are you guys making?"

"It's supposed to be some fancy pancake recipe Ellington found, but I don't know if we're making them right."

"Oh…"

"So what happened with you and Riker?" Rocky asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Last night when we got home, you guys were fast asleep on the couch together."

"Oh. Yeah, we were watching a movie, and I fell asleep. I don't know why he didn't just wake me up. He doesn't look very comfortable sleeping like that."

"So how are things with you guys?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. Like… I don't know… Are you guys…?"

Ellington elbowed Rocky in the ribs.

"Are we what?"

"Ugh, just ignore him. He can't think straight, he just woke up. He doesn't know what he's talking about," said Ellington.

"Uh… Ok."

A few seconds later, Riker came stumbling into the kitchen. His hair was sticking up in all crazy directions. He came and sat down next to me.

"Good morning," I said.

"Good morning…"

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, just really tired still."

"Here, come with me. I know how to wake you up," I said, pulling Riker out the front door.

I brought Riker down to the docks. We walked down the end of one of them. Riker was totally oblivious to what I was about to do.

Once he was standing at the edge, I pushed him forward, and he fell into the lake.

"RILEY!"

"Are you awake now?"

"Yeah, and wet!"

"That was kind of the plan."

Riker pulled himself back up. He was dripping water everywhere.

"Hey Riley?"

"Yeah?"

"Are _you_ awake enough?"

"What? Wait! YES I AM! RIKER NO!"

I turned to run, but Riker grabbed me from behind. He put me over his shoulder, and jumped off the dock. When I came back up to the surface, I was laughing. I hadn't had this much fun in a long time.

"Ok, we're both awake now. How about we go get some breakfast?" I asked.

"Sounds good!"

Riker helped me up on the dock before pulling himself back up. We walked back to his house.

"What on earth did you guys do!?" Rocky asked.

"We decided to take a dip in the lake," said Riker.

"Now!? Wearing pajamas!?"

"Yeah, why not? Now what's for breakfast?" Riker asked.

"Whatever _this_ is," said Ellington.

 **Later…**

 **Riker POV**

Riley went back to her house to shower. She had specific items she wanted to use, so she just went back to her house. While she was there, I went down to the docks to think. Riley had said it was her thinking spot, so I decided to make it mine too. I always needed to think about things.

I thought about how Riley was acting different. Actually, she was probably acting normal. She was different when the whole Dylan thing was going on. I was just afraid that when she went back to her house, there would be drama again. But for now, I was just going to enjoy it.

This morning was awesome, even though I ended up in the lake. But Riley was different than I thought she was, in a good way. She was crazier than I thought, like her idea of pushing me in the lake. But I liked how her mind worked. And when I jumped in the lake with her, it was cool that she didn't get mad at me for doing that. So far, today was amazing.

I could feel someone walking down the dock. I turned around and saw that it was Riley. She came and sat down next to me.

"Finished showering?" I asked.

"Yeah. Sorry, my hair's really wet. I usually let it air dry, but it takes a long time. And until it dries, it's usually really messy and weird."

"I think it looks good."

"Thanks. So what have you been doing?"

"Uh… Not much. I've been sitting here, just thinking."

"Thinking about what?"

"I don't know. Just random stuff."

"Ok. Well it's getting late. I mean, not really, but the sun's going down. The bugs are coming out. Do you want to go back to your house?"

"Yeah."

Riley and I walked back to my house, and sat down on the couch.

"So what do you want to do?" I asked.

"Uh… We could finish that movie from yesterday. I promise I'll try not to fall asleep on you again tonight. And by the way I'm really sorry about that. You looked really uncomfortable."

"Nah, it was fine, Riley."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Ok. Tomorrow night's my last night here, and then I go back to my house."

"Are you worried or anything?"

"Well I'm a little worried about Dylan and stuff, and I'm worried that my uncle and I could have another fight. But I know I have you to talk to, so that almost makes it ok. Only a few weeks until my parents come back though. And then my life will be somewhat normal again."

"Well I'm sure you're happy about that."

"I am, definitely. Once my parents come back, it'll be so much better."

"Is your uncle really that bad?"

"Well, it's just that we're really different. We don't have a lot in common, and we usually don't agree on stuff. I don't know. He's my uncle, so I love him, but… He's just annoying sometimes."

"Yeah, I get it."

 **Later…**

 **Riker POV**

Riley went to sleep in Rydel's room tonight. I was happy I didn't have to sleep all weird since it messed my back up a little, but I was sad that I wasn't with Riley.

Rocky sat down on his bed across the room from mine, and he looked at me weird.

"What?" I asked.

"What's up with you and Riley?"

"Well I heard you almost said something earlier, but Ellington stopped you. He said you were totally going to ask a dating question."

"I was…"

"Rocky, you have to be more careful. I don't want you to mess this up for me. I really like Riley."

"I know, that's why you need to ask her out before someone else does."

"I can't! Not yet, at least."

"Why not?"

"Because her parents aren't back yet, she's still dealing with her uncle, and she doesn't have stuff under control with her ex yet."

"Ooh! Tell me about _that_!"

"What?"

"Her ex. What's going on with _him_? Is that why she won't go out with you?"

"Rocky, I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"It's Riley's business."

" _You_ know about it."

"Because she told me."

"She did? Ooh…"

"Ooh, what?"

"I don't know if that's a good sign."

"What are you talking about?"

"If she's telling you about her ex, I don't know if she would want to go out with you. It just seems weird."

"But it's not like that. She doesn't just talk about her ex or anything. It was actually kind of a mistake that she told me."

"How?"

"Rocky, I'm done talking about this. Even if I _was_ going to ask her out, it wouldn't be until her parents got back, so just stop."

"I don't know what's so hard about asking a girl out."

"Rocky, that's because you date our fans. So of course they love you. Riley's different. She's just a girl. She doesn't know us as the band R5. She knows us as the Lynchs. We're just her neighbors. I don't know what she thinks about me… Ugh, I just don't know, Rocky!"

"Well if you don't want _her_ to know, I would stop shouting if I were you. Rydel's room is literally just down the hall."

"I know, I know. I'm just… conflicted… I don't know what I should do. Do I ask her out and risk making things weird between us if she says no? Or do I not ask her out so we can still have our friendship? I… I just don't know…"

"Well you'll have some time to think about that."

"Yeah… I will…"

 **The Next Day…**

 **Riker POV**

I woke up, and saw Rydel and Riley standing over me. They're holding… Cans of whipped cream…? Wait a minute… My face is covered in whipped cream. And so is my pillow.

"Guys! Come on! What did I ever do to you!?" I said, sitting up.

Riley and Rydel left, laughing. I got up and went to the bathroom. I looked in the mirror, and my face was literally all covered in whipped cream. It was all over, even in my hair. And now it was starting to drip all down my shirt. I was a mess. But more importantly, I looked stupid… In front of Riley!

"AAH!"

"Riker, are you ok?" Rocky shouted from outside the bathroom.

"Yeah."

A big blob of whipped cream had just fallen down inside my shirt, and it was cold! I quickly pulled my shirt off, took a towel, and washed it off. Once I had gotten all the whipped cream off, I headed downstairs to find Rydel and Riley.

Riley and Rydel were sitting at the counter in the kitchen, talking to Ross about what they had done to me.

I walked up behind Riley and put my hands on her shoulders, startling her. She turned around immediately.

"Hi," said Riley.

"Hi. Why did you guys do that this morning?"

"Because we thought it would be funny."

"Funny?"

"Just be glad I talked Rydel out of using honey."

"You were going to use honey!?"

"But we didn't!"

"That would've been so bad!"

"Well that's why we didn't!"

"I'm worried about you two sleeping together now."

Riley laughed.

"Hey, it's your own fault for sleeping in so late," said Rydel.

"Oh, is that why you guys did it?"

"Yeah, and you missed breakfast," said Riley.

"It's ok, I'm not that hungry anyway."

Riley got up, and pulled me into the living room. We sat down on the couch.

"What?" I asked.

"One more night, and then I have to go back."

"You don't _have_ to go back."

"No, I do. I could tell my uncle didn't really like that I would be gone for 4 nights. If I stayed even longer, it just feels like that would be kind of rude.

"Yeah…"

"But we still have one more night. I want to enjoy it."

"Yeah. We should do something fun tonight."

"Like what?"

"Like… We could go into Lake George and do something there."

"Ok."

 **Later…**

 **Riley POV**

Riker and I walked down to the beach. We had decided that we would go into Lake George for dinner later. But for right now, we wanted to go swimming.

I took my shoes off and stepped into the water. It wasn't warm, and it wasn't cold. It was in between. But I was used to swimming in somewhat cold water, so it didn't really bother me. Riker on the other hand…

"Riley, how are you in to your waist already? It's freezing!"

"Riker, you're not even in to your knees yet. Come on!"

"It's too cold!"

I walked back onto the beach, got a bucket, and filled it with water.

"Oh, no. Don't even think about it," said Riker, back away.

"Then get in the water," I said, moving closer.

My plan wasn't even to throw the water on him. It was only to threaten him into going deeper in the water. And it was working perfectly. I had Riker backing further and further into the lake.

"Come on, Riley. It's freezing. Let's go swimming another day."

"No, it's a fine day to go swimming. Just go underwater already!"

Riker was in up to his waist now. He had his arms wrapped around himself, and he was shivering.

"Oh give me a break. It's not that cold!" I said, walking closer.

"Wait! Come on, can't we settle this without the bucket?"

"Fine," I said, walking back to the beach, and leaving the bucket there.

Once I had gotten back to where Riker was standing, I had a plan.

"Now, you want to go swimming, and I don't. How should we settle this?" Riker asked.

 **Riker POV**

Riley got this strange look on her face like she knew something I didn't. And within a matter of seconds, she had gone underwater, right in front of me. What was she going to do!?

I felt her grab my ankles. Before I knew it, my feet were in the air, and my head was underwater. I flipped around, and got back to the surface, coughing. Riley was standing there, laughing at me.

"Ok, there. I settled it. We're going swimming."

That girl is very sneaky. But I like that!

"Ugh, fine."

"Let's go to the raft."

"Ok."

"Race you there!"

Riley took off toward the raft. She would disappear under the water and come up like 20 feet from where she went under. She was so fast! She ended up beating me.

"Riker, you need to practice your swimming! You have longer arms and legs. That should've been a closer race."

"I just can't hold my breath that long, so it doesn't make sense for me to swim underwater. I don't know how you're that fast though!"

"I swim almost every day. Obviously not the past few days because I've been with you. But most other days, I'm out here swimming."

I pulled myself up on the dock, and sat there, shivering from the wind.

"So what do you want to do?" Riley asked.

"Get back in the water. It's freezing."

"Ok."

"Actually, do you want to swim in, and get dressed and stuff?"

"No! I love it out here."

"Come on, Riley. It's freezing!"

"So get back in the water."

"But I want to go back in to the shore."

"Riker-"

"Please?"

"Fine."

I picked Riley up just like this morning, and jumped in. We swam in to the shore, went back up to my house, and got changed. After that, we got in my car, and went to Lake George. We had dinner, and then sat on a bench overlooking the lake. The moon was out, and it was reflecting on the lake nicely.

"So what do you want to do?" I asked.

"I don't know. It's really cold tonight though. I don't know how long we should stay."

"Here," I said, taking off my sweatshirt.

"Are you sure? You'll be freezing."

"Yeah, take it."

"Thanks."

Riley put my sweatshirt on, and leaned her head on my shoulder.

"Riker, you're such an awesome guy."

An awesome guy who's winning your heart though?

"What do you mean?"

"You gave me your sweatshirt, you let me stay at your house, and you came to my house to talk to me when you knew I was upset. You're just so nice. I'm glad I met you."

"I'm glad I met you too, Riley."

I put my arm around Riley as we walked back to my car. We were definitely getting closer. But closer to dating? I don't know…


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

 **The Next Day…**

 **Riker POV**

I helped Riley pack up her stuff, and then we walked over to her house. Her uncle greeted us at the door.

"So what do you want to do now?" I asked Riley.

"Uh… Unpack probably…"

"Do you want help or do you want me to go home?"

"Uh… I don't really need help, but you don't have to go home if you don't want to."

"Ok."

I sat down on Riley's bed and talked with her until she was finished unpacking.

"So have you heard anything from Dylan recently?" I asked.

"Uh…"

"Riley, what happened?"

"Nothing."

"Riley."

"Nothing, I swear!"

"Riley."

"Riker, there's nothing going on."

"Fine. I think I should go home now."

"Riker, wait."

"What?"

"Nothing's going on, I promise. Don't leave."

"Riley, would you tell me if something _was_ going on?"

"I don't know…"

I turned around and started for the door.

"Riker, wait! Why is this so important to you!?"

"Because I care about you, Riley! And if you don't tell me what's going on, I can't help you."

"Riker, nothing's going on. I don't need help with anything. I'm back at my uncle's. That's as crazy as things are, right now."

I still didn't really believe that. I was guessing it was something with Dylan. But I knew she didn't usually tell people things like this, so I wouldn't be too surprised if there really was something going on with Dylan.

"Riley, I have to go. Maybe I'll see you later," I said, walking out the door.

 **A Few Days Later…**

 **Riley POV**

I had no idea what was going on with Riker. I thought we were really close, but I haven't seen him in a few days. I bet he could tell I was lying when I said nothing was going on. But Riker wasn't here to fight my battles for me. I could do it on my own. Dylan was _my_ problem, and I would find a way to solve it.

"Riley!?" My uncle called.

"Yeah!?" I called back.

"There's a guy here to see you!"

"Ok. I'll be there in a minute!"

I figured it was Riker, and we would probably go down to the beach to talk, so I grabbed my phone on the way out of my room.

"Hi Riley."

"Dylan!? What are _you_ doing here?"

"Why don't we go talk about this down at the beach?"

"Why? We could just go to my room."

I was terrified he was going to do something to me. At least if we were still in the house, my uncle could hear me scream if something happened.

"No, Riley. It's such a nice day out. Let's go down to the beach."

Dylan grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the house before I could say anything else. He practically dragged me down there.

"Sit down."

"Dylan-"

"Sit down!"

"Ok."

"Let's have a little chat. Did you, or did you not get my texts?"

"I got them."

"Well then why haven't you responded?"

"Because I haven't made a decision yet."

"Well how about you make a decision now? I'll make it really easy for you. You're my girlfriend again, or else something… _unexpected_ might just happen to you in the next few days. Maybe even right now."

"Dylan wait! Uh… Hold on. Can I just reread your messages? I want to read them again before I make my decision."

"Fine, just hurry up!"

I took out my phone, and pretended to scroll through Dylan's messages, but I was really texting Riker.

 **Riker POV**

"Dude, you need to ask her out," said Rocky.

"I can't now. I haven't talked to her in days! And she's probably mad at me for leaving that one day."

"Well then why'd you leave?"

"Because I thought she wasn't telling me something, and I was a little bit mad she wouldn't tell me."

"What do you think she's keeping from you?"

"I don't know. I think it's something that has to do with her ex."

"Why do you think that?"

"Hold on, I got a text…"

"From who?"

"Oh my god, it's from Riley!"

"Perfect, you can go talk to her, and ask her out."

"No! It's not that! She's in trouble! I have to go! I'll see you later!"

I ran out the front door without any shoes on. Since the road was made of rocks, that probably wasn't the smartest idea. But the words from Riley's last text let me know that I couldn't let pain get in the way from saving her. "Dylan. Beach. Help." My heart was pounding as I rounded the corner to the beach. Dylan threw something that looked like a phone into the lake, and then he threw Riley over his shoulder, upside down. I continued sprinting until I got to the beach.

"Put her down, Dylan!" I shouted.

Dylan turned to me.

"Who are you?"

"Riker."

"Oh yeah. The guy with the stupid name. You dumped everything in my car."

"Dylan, all the blood is rushing to my head. Please put me down," said Riley.

"Why should I?"

"Dylan please! I feel sick."

"Dylan, put her down _now_!" I yelled, walking closer.

"Ok, fine."

"AHHH!"

Dylan had let Riley fall over his shoulder head first to the ground.

I stepped toward Dylan.

"Whoa, whoa. Step away blond boy, unless you want something unexpected to happen to you too."

Dylan suddenly started running up the road, probably back to his car. I ran over to Riley, who was crying on the ground.

"Riley, are you ok!?"

"No! My wrist is _killing_ me!"

"Can you move it?"

"Ugh! Yeah."

"Then it's not broken. It's probably just sprained."

"Riker. Thanks for coming. I don't know what would've happened if you didn't."

"Yeah, I'm glad I got here when I did."

"Riker, you're bleeding."

"What? Where?"

"There's blood on the sand."

I sat down in the sand next to Riley. There were multiple cuts on the bottom of my feet, which were now covered in sand.

I got up and walked in the water, trying to wash the sand off.

"Riley?"

"Yeah?"

"What did Dylan throw in the water?"

"Ugh, my phone..."

"Where did he throw it?"

"Riker don't bother. It probably doesn't even work anymore. Can you just walk me back to my house?"

"Sure."

I helped Riley up, and then we started walking up to her house. The adrenaline wasn't so intense anymore, and I could feel the pain in my feet starting to come back.

"Ow!"

"Riker, take my shoes."

Riley slipped her flip flops off, and gave them to me.

"Here. They're probably a little small, but they're better than nothing."

"But now _you'll_ have to walk on the rocks."

"So? I walk down without shoes all the time. It doesn't really even bother me anymore."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Ok. Thanks."

I walked Riley back to her house.

"Thanks, Riker. And thanks for… saving me. I was really scared you weren't going to come."

"Why wouldn't I come?"

"I don't know. You seemed really mad when you left the other day. And then we didn't talk since then."

"Riley, I wasn't mad. And even if I was, if I had gotten your text, I still would've come running down there."

"Really?"

"Yeah, of course, Riley."

"Riker? I need to tell you something."

I sat down on Riley's bed, next to her.

"What is it?"

"Dylan has been… texting me. And threatening me. And I didn't want you to know, so I pretended that everything was ok. But it wasn't. And I'm sorry I lied to you."

"It's ok. I'm glad you told me now. What exactly has he said?"

"Well… He wants me to go out with him again. And he said if I don't, something bad will happen to me. He hasn't said anything specific, but I think he's implying that he's going to hurt me somehow. And today down at the beach, he said if I didn't go out with him, something unexpected might happen to me in the next few days. I don't know what to do."

"Call the police."

"No! Anything but that!"

"Riley, I really don't want something to happen to you. What if I hadn't been home when you texted me? You got lucky! I don't want something to happen, and then I'm not there to do something about it. Riley, come on. You need to call the police."

"No! I can't! He'll know it was me, and then if he goes to jail, when he gets out, he'll totally kill me!"

"What if he kills you now? Riley, this is dangerous!"

"I know! But I'm not calling the police. Not yet, at least."

"Riley."

"No, Riker. I'm not doing it."

"Then I'll do it for you."

"No!"

"Riley."

"No. Stop. And don't look at me like that! Stop trying to make me feel guilty!"

"Riley, you're going to get hurt."

"Riker, I'm not calling the police. Now, drop it."

"Fine."

"Can you please do something about my wrist though? It still hurts really bad."

"Sure. Where do you keep first aid stuff?"

"In the bathroom closet."

"Ok."

I came back to Riley's room carrying a whole bunch of stuff for her wrist. First I wrapped her wrist up, and then I gave her ice to put on it.

"Hey Riley?"

"Yeah?"

"I have to go. But I'll come back later and see how you're doing, ok?"

"Ok."

"Bye Riley."

"Bye."

I walked back down to the beach. I wanted to try to find Riley's phone, partly because her wrist was hurt and having her phone back would make her feel better. But also because I wanted her to be able to text me if anything else happened. I wasn't wearing my swimsuit though. I was wearing skinny jeans. I pulled the bottoms up as far as they would go, which wasn't very high. I walked about a foot into the water, and realized I wasn't going to be able to find her phone if I didn't go in further. And if I took the time to change, her phone might not work anymore. But if I found it soon enough, it still might have a chance. So, I started wading in the water, wearing my skinny jeans. And I found out that wet jeans are really heavy. _Really_ heavy. And I wasn't wearing a belt today. Just my luck. Every 2 seconds I had to keep pulling my pants up.

I was out to about my shoulders now, and I still didn't see her phone. Dylan must have thrown it really far.

"Riker? What are you doing?"

I looked up and saw Riley standing on the beach.

"I'm uh… Looking for your phone. What are you doing down here?"

"I… wanted to talk to you."

"Oh."

"But I mean, it can wait. You can keep looking."

"Ok. What color is your case?"

"Lime green."

"Ok."

"I think Dylan chucked it somewhere over to the right."

"Oh. Ok."

I walked over to the right and looked around, but I didn't see anything.

"I think it's a little closer to the shore."

I walked toward the shore until the water was at my stomach. I kept looking for her phone. And then I saw it.

"Riley I found it! Ugh! But I can't reach it. I'm going to have to go underwater."

Now my hair was going to get messed up. I went underwater, grabbed her phone, swam closer to the shore, and then came up for air. When I stood up and started walking toward Riley, she started laughing at me.

"What?"

Riley pointed down at the water. I looked down, and realized I was standing there in my underwear.

"Ugh! My stupid pants!" I yelled, bending down to pull my pants back up.

Well that was embarrassing… I ran my hand through my hair, trying to make it look as normal as possible. I handed Riley her phone.

"Thanks Riker."

"You're welcome. So what did you want to talk about?"

"Uh… Can we actually talk at my house?"

"Sure."

"Do you want to change first?"

"Yeah."

Riley and I walked up the road together, but I had to keep one hand on my pants the whole time.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

 **Riker POV**

After I changed out of my wet clothes, I met Riley back at her house. I sat down on her bed, next to her.

"So what did you want to talk about?"

"Uh… I… I think I need to leave."

"What do you mean?"

"Dylan's going to get me and do something to me! If I leave, then he won't be able to find me!"

"Riley, there's an easier solution. Call the police!"

"And tell them what!?"

"Dylan's threatening you!? He's harassing you!? Tell them everything! They'll take care of it!"

"Riker-"

"I know you don't want to because you're scared, Riley, but you have to!"

"Not yet."

"Why not!?"

"I don't want to!"

"Riley, you're being ridiculous."

"I am not!"

"Riley, you need to call the police!"

"No! I'm not going to!"

"Riley-"

"Riker, just stop! I'm not doing that!"

"Riley, you have to!"

"I don't have to do anything!"

"Riley-"

"Just get out, Riker!"

I looked into Riley's eyes. She was really upset.

"Riley, I'm sorry."

"Stop. Leave."

Riley pointed at the door. I slowly turned and went back to my house. What did I just do!? Now she was mad at me.

 **The Next Day…**

 **Riley POV**

"Riley! Someone's here to see you!" My uncle called.

If it was Dylan, I wasn't letting him take me down to the beach this time.

I walked out of my room. Instead of Dylan, I found Riker. He looked upset about something.

"Riker? Why are _you_ here?"

"Can we go down to the beach and talk for a minute?"

"Sure."

Riker and I walked down to the beach, and sat down at the end of a dock.

"Riley, I'm really sorry for yesterday."

"I'm sorry too."

"I just want to keep you safe. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Well… Thanks. Why did you come over?"

"Because I wanted to make sure things were ok between us. I don't like fighting with you, and I felt bad."

"Oh…"

"Riley?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm really sorry."

"I know, it's ok."

"When are your parents coming back?"

"Only a few more days now. I think 4 more days."

"Oh cool. So what are you doing today?"

"I don't know. Not really anything."

"Oh, well then do you want to hang out?"

"Sure. What did you want to do?"

"Uh… I don't know."

"Riker, why do you get like this?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. Just all quiet and stuff."

Riker's face turned bright red.

"I don't know…"

"Riker, seriously. Why are you fine one minute, and then weird the next?"

"I don't know…"

"Ok, well I actually just remembered that I'm supposed to help my uncle with something. I'll see you later."

I turned and walked back up to my house. I didn't understand. He got mad when I didn't tell him something. What isn't he telling me? And why does he think that's ok?

 **Later…**

 **Riker POV**

"She knows I'm not telling her something, and she's mad. She just doesn't know that it's that I like her. Ugh! I just don't know what to do!"

"Riker, listen closely this time," said Rocky.

"What?"

"ASK HER OUT!"

"Rocky! I can't!"

"Why not?"

"Her parents aren't home yet. I thought we discussed this. I couldn't ask her out until her parents got back. And guess what? They're not back yet."

"I don't see why you have to wait."

"Because… Because…"

"Because you just wanted an excuse not to ask her out because you're scared."

"I am not!"

"You are so! If you really loved that girl, you would've asked her out by now."

"No! I won't ask her out _because_ I love her! I don't want to risk making our friendship awkward if she doesn't like me back."

"Well what if she _does_ like you back?"

"Then that would be amazing!"

"But you wouldn't know because you're too scared to go ask her out!"

"Well that's a good point… But if she likes me, she can ask me out."

"Isn't the guy supposed to ask the girl out?"

"Well… But Riley's not like that. She believes that girls can do anything guys can, so if she liked me, she would ask me out. She wouldn't care."

"Well what if she's scared, like you?"

"Well then… I don't know…"

"What if you're both scared to ask each other out because you're afraid of making things awkward?"

"But what if she doesn't like me back!?"

"Riker, I honestly don't know what else to say. If you're not going to ask the girl out, I don't think there's really anything else I can do to help you."

"Rocky-"

"Riker, you need to ask her out. End of story."

 **A Few Days Later…**

 **Riley POV**

My parents were back and my uncle was gone! I was so happy! But Dylan hadn't done anything to me yet, which meant he wasn't going to do something, or whatever was coming, would be really bad because it's taking him this long.

"So Riley, what have you been up to for the past few weeks?" My mom asked.

"Uh… Not much…"

"Your uncle said you made a friend."

"Oh. Yeah, his name's Riker. He lives across the street."

"Is he your _boyfriend_?" My dad asked.

"No, he's not my boyfriend."

"Just checking," said my dad.

No matter who it was, my dad never liked any of my boyfriends. He just didn't like the idea of his daughter dating. And he never liked my guy friends either.

"So what are your plans for today, Riley?" My mom asked.

"Uh… I don't know. Why?"

"We were thinking of taking the boat out. Maybe we'd take you tubing if you wanted to go."

"Ok. When?"

"I don't know. Maybe after lunch."

"Ok. Sounds good."

I went back to my bedroom to get changed into my swimsuit.

"Riley! Someone's here to see you!" My mom called.

I walked out to find Riker. He looked… either guilty or nervous or both.

"Riker, what are you doing here?"

"Can we talk?"

"Uh… Sure. In my room?"

"Yeah."

I led Riker to my room, and we both sat down on my bed.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"I wanted to apologize for the other day. For… Being weird."

"Yeah, what was that all about?"

"I don't know."

"Riker, you _do_ know."

"Ok, I do."

"Well then why?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why not? I tell you everything."

"But this is embarrassing!"

"More embarrassing than your pants falling down in the lake?"

"Yes…"

Riker turned a bright shade of red. I thought that was cute.

"Riker, just tell me. What's going on?"

"I can't tell you! Not yet at least!"

"Then when can you tell me?"

"I don't know… Maybe in like… A month…?"

"Ok, I'll see you in a month, then."

"Riley, wait. I really can't tell you. If you knew what it was, you'd understand."

"Riker, I tell you everything. Even if it's hard for me, like talking about Dylan. You know I don't like talking about stuff like that."

"But Riley, this is something really personal."

"Riker, I tell _you_ personal stuff."

"Like what?"

"Like the problems with Dylan and my uncle!"

"Well… Ok…"

"So will you tell me?"

"Riley."

" _Riker_."

"I'll tell you sometime, but not right now."

"Sometime when?"

"In the next month."

"Month!? How about in the next week?"

"Riley! That's crazy!"

"So is not telling me something because you think it's embarrassing!"

"Riley, you don't understand. It's not like that."

"Fine."

"Riley, don't be like that."

"What should I be like, then? Happy that you won't tell me something?"

"Riley-"

"Riker, I thought you were different. I've had so many friends in my life, and they all keep secrets from me, and then stab me in the back, later. I don't do that to people. And I thought you didn't either."

"Riley, it's not like that at all!"

"Just go, Riker."

"Riley. I'm sorry."

"If you were sorry, you'd tell me whatever it is."

"Riley, I'm really sorry."

"Go, Riker."

"Riley. How can I fix this?"

"You can't, unless you tell me."

"What if I promise to tell you by a certain time?"

"By when?"

"Next month?"

"No. Sooner."

"3 weeks?"

"No. 1 week, or no deal."

Riker had to think for a minute. He kept looking at me. Hmmm…

"Fine. Deal. But you're not mad anymore, right?"

"I guess not…"

"Ok, good."

Riker wrapped his arms around me in a hug.

"I'm really sorry, Riley."

"It's ok."

"So what are you doing today? Going swimming?"

"Not exactly."

"Then what?"

"My parents offered to take me tubing. Do you want to come!?"

"I've never been tubing before. What do you do, exactly?"

"So there's a tube, and it's connected to a boat by a rope. There's a boat driver, and a spotter. And then there's the tuber. My tube is a 2 person one, so we could go at the same time."

"But what do we do?"

"You just hang onto that thing for dear life, and try not to get flung off when we go around crazy turns and stuff."

"How fast do you go?"

"Pretty fast. Do you want to come?"

"Uh… I don't know…"

"Come on! It'll be fun! It's always really fun! We can go together."

"Ok. When are we going?"

"Sometime after lunch."

"Ok. Let me go get changed."

"Ok. Do you want to have lunch with us?"

"Sure. I'll meet you back here in 10 minutes. Is that good?"

"Yeah."

 **Later…**

 **Riker POV**

Riley and I walked down the road behind her parents. I was a little nervous because I had never done anything like this before. Riley and I got on the boat, and her dad drove us out into the middle of the lake, and put the tube in the water. Riley and I put on life vests.

"Ok, jump in," said Riley's dad.

I looked at Riley. She grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the edge. We both jumped off the boat into the water. It was kind of cold. Then we swam over to the tube, and pulled ourselves up. We were both laying on our stomachs, right next to each other.

"Hold on really tight, ok?" Riley asked.

"Ok."

"And if you want them to stop or slow down, just tell me, and I'll sign them to do whatever."

"Sign them?"

"Yeah. There are hand signs to communicate with the spotter."

"Oh."

"Ok, are you ready?"

"I guess so."

"Ok."

Riley did some hand sign, and then her dad started the boat.

"We're not going that fast," I said.

"Yeah, I know. We have to start slow, and then out of nowhere, we just speed up like crazy. Just hang on tight. It gets really fast really quick."

Just like Riley said, her dad sped up. We went flying above the water. And I was hanging on as tight as I could. I looked next to me, and Riley was smiling like this was fun. I was scared to death.

We suddenly hit these giant waves. We flopped up and down so many times. I would try to pull myself further onto the tube, but we'd just hit more waves, and I'd slide down again.

Aside from feeling like I was going to die any second, another unpleasant thing was the constant spray of water in my face. I could barely see anything.

We went over some more big waves, and Riley and I were pretty much smooshed together in the middle of the tube. She was still smiling, and I was still terrified.

"Riley!?" I shouted.

"Yeah!?"

"What happens if you fall off!?"

"Then we stop the boat, you get back on, and we keep going! Why!?"

"My arms are killing me! I feel like I could fall off any second!"

"Just hold on! My dad will stop and give us a break soon!"

Riley's dad made a sharp turn, and I was hanging halfway off the tube. I was barely hanging on anymore. Her dad finally slowed down to a stop, and I pulled myself far up on the tube. I took my hands off the handles and stretched out my fingers. They hurt like crazy. I stretched out my arms which hurt as well. I groaned as I laid my head down on the tube, trying to relax.

"Riker, are you ok?"

"Yeah. I'm just tired. That's a lot of work trying to hang onto this thing."

"I know. But I'm pretty used to it. Are you ready for more?"

"More!?"

"Yeah. We're going to do some more."

I didn't want to seem like I was weak or anything, so I agreed to keep going. But we had only rested for about a minute before we took off again.

Almost as soon as we took off again, I almost fell off. My arms were fully extended, and I was slipping off little by little. I pulled myself back up again, and looked at Riley. She was still having fun. We went over giant waves, and got sprayed in the face with a ton of water. Her dad started making another sharp turn, and I knew I was going to have to hold on tight if I wanted to stay on.

The tube slowed down for a second as the boat turned, but as soon as it straightened out, the tube sped over the water. I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder, and I knew from the pain that I shouldn't keep going. But I didn't want Riley to think that I couldn't handle this. She didn't seem like she was tired, in pain, or starting to slip off. I continued hanging on, but I put most of the stress in my other arm.

Riley's dad made another sharp turn. I felt an even sharper pain in my shoulder when we sped up, and I had to use both of my arms to hang on. The pain was getting increasingly worse every second, and my arm just gave way, and I flew off the tube at the next turn.

"AHHH!" I screaming, flying into the water.

When I came back to the surface, Riley's dad was slowly driving the boat next to me so Riley and the tube would come floating next to me. But I knew I couldn't get back on. The pain was so intense in my shoulder.

"AHH!" I screamed, holding my shoulder tightly.

The tube floated next to me, and Riley grabbed my hand. I pulled myself onto the tube, and rolled over on my back, still holding onto my shoulder.

"Riker, are you ok!?"

"My shoulder is killing me! Ugh!"

I squeezed my eyes shut, and tried not to scream, but my shoulder hurt so bad!

"Dad!"

Riley's dad drove the boat over to us, and shut it off.

"Dad, Riker's hurt."

"What's wrong?"

"It's his shoulder, I think."

Riley got in the water, and pushed the tube next to the boat. Her mom held onto the tube while Riley got back on. Riley's dad helped me get on the boat. Riley got on too, and sat down next to me in the back of the boat. Riley's dad started driving us back to the docks.

"Riker, are you ok?"

"My shoulder really hurts!"

Riley's parents tied the boat to the docks. Riley got off first, and gave me her hand to help me get off. She walked me to my house, and left me to tell my siblings what happened.

"Do you need to go to the hospital?" Ross asked.

"I can moved my shoulder and my arm. It just hurts insanely bad!" I said.

"Why didn't you just tell her your shoulder hurt?" Rocky asked.

"Because I didn't want her to think I couldn't handle it."

"And now you're hurt. Great plan, genius."

"Ross, can you get me some ice?"

"Sure."

"Rocky, do you know how embarrassing that was for me? I was on the edge of crying it hurt so bad! Riley must think I'm so pathetic…"

 **Later…**

 **Riley POV**

I knocked on Riker's door, and Rocky answered.

"Hey Riley."

"Hi. Is Riker here?"

"Yeah, he's upstairs."

"Thanks."

I walked upstairs, and into Riker's bedroom. He was laying in bed with ice on his shoulder.

"Hi Riker."

"Hey Riley."

I sat down on the end of his bed.

"I'm sorry about your shoulder."

"Thanks."

"So what happened exactly?"

"With my shoulder?"

"Yeah."

"I don't know… I think when we went around one of the sharp turns, something happened. I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder."

"Like right before you fell off?"

"Uh… No…"

"Riker! Then when?"

"Like 5 minutes before…"

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because if I told you I needed to stop, then you'd think I wasn't strong enough to keep going. I was embarrassed that I was almost falling off every second, and you seemed fine."

"Riker, it's only because I've gone tubing a lot. I have really strong arms now, and I'm used to going really fast and stuff. This is only your first time. When I first went tubing, I flew off a bunch of times. And after that, my arms, shoulders, and fingers were killing me for the next couple of days. You shouldn't be embarrassed. And now you're hurt!"

"I know… I should've just told you."

"Yeah, you should've. You know what else you should've told me?"

"What?"

"Whatever it is that you haven't told me yet!"

"Not yet."

"Then when, Riker?"

"I don't know."

"You know, you're making me really mad with that whole thing."

"I'm sorry Riley."

I shook my head before standing up.

"Riley, wait!"

"What?" I asked, really annoyed.

"I _will_ tell you. Just not yet. But I promise I will."

I rolled my eyes, and walked out of his room. I didn't believe that. I really don't think he's ever going to tell me. But if he's going to be like that, I don't know if I want to hang out with him anymore.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

 **A Few Days Later…**

 **Riker POV**

"I think I lost her, Rocky."

"Because of the fight?"

"It wasn't exactly a fight… But I think she's really mad. I keep trying to text her, but she never responds."

"Didn't you say you'd tell her within a week?"

"Yeah."

"When is your week up?"

"Tonight."

"Riker, if you want any chance of dating that girl, you need to tell her, tonight."

"She doesn't even want to talk to me! How am I supposed to tell her if she won't talk to me!?"

"That's for you to figure out."

"I'm doomed…"

"You're not doomed. You just need a really good plan."

 **Later that night…**

 **Riker POV**

"Riker, it's almost 9:00. Stop stalling, and get your butt over there!" Rocky said, pushing me towards the front door.

"Rocky, I don't think I can do this."

"Riker, you need to. I know how much you love Riley. I'm not letting you blow this. Now go! You can do it!"

I nervously walked over to Riley's. Her mom let me in, and I walked down the hall to her bedroom.

"Riley?" I called, knocking on the door.

Riley opened the door.

"Why are _you_ here? It's getting late."

"Riley, can I take you somewhere?"

"Why?"

"I can't tell you yet. Please come with me."

"Wow, another thing you won't tell me. What a surprise."

Riley turned around, and walked a few steps away from me.

"Riley, please. Trust me."

"Riker, I _don't_ trust you. Not anymore."

"Riley, please! I just need you to come with me."

"Where are we going?"

"I can't tell you!"

"Then I can't go with you."

"Riley! _Please_!"

"Riker, I trusted you. You and all your secrets are just really annoying, and they hurt! I think it would be easier if you just stopped coming over."

Wow. That hurt. A lot.

"Riley, please. I need you to trust me on this! Please! Give me one more chance! Just one more. If you want to go back home at any time, I'll take you right back, ok? Please Riley!"

"Fine. You get one chance, and that's it. But I'm still really mad at you!"

"Yes! Ok, come with me!"

I grabbed Riley's hand and pulled her out to my car.

"Why aren't you talking?" I asked after minutes of silence.

"Well I'm extremely mad at you, and if I were going to say something, I would ask you where we're going, but you've already made it clear that you're not going to tell me."

"Oh…"

Since talking right now was probably going to just make the situation worse, I kept my mouth shut, and kept driving until we arrived in Lake George.

"Ok, get out," I said.

I put my arm around her as we started walking down the sidewalk. Riley stopped suddenly.

"Riker, no. Please stop. I know you're trying to make everything ok, but putting your arm around me is just annoying! I don't even want to be here, and I don't know why I am!"

"I'm sorry, Riley…"

We kept walking. I led Riley down to the public docks on Lake George. I gave one of the guys some money, and followed him onto a boat. I held out my hand to help Riley in, but she didn't take it. The guy showed me how to start the boat, and then left me and Riley. I had come down here earlier, and planned everything out with the guy in charge of the boat rentals.

I drove us out into the middle of the lake somewhere, and then shut the boat off. Riley was sitting in the front of the boat, so I got up and sat up there with her. Our only light was from the moon, the stars, and the lights from town which were far away.

It was now or never. This is my one chance, and if I blow it… I don't want to think about that.

I took a deep breath before starting.

"Riley?"

Riley turned to face me with her arms crossed.

"What?"

"I uh… Brought us out on this boat."

"Obviously…"

"Well… Uh… I don't know if you remembered, but this is the deadline for when I have to say what I've been keeping from you."

"So you think by telling me, that's going to fix everything between us? You probably have a 1% chance."

This night is a lot scarier than I thought it was going to be…

"Riley, I know I've been acting a little bit strange around you. And I know you're really mad at me for not telling you, especially since you told me a lot about yourself. But I had a good reason for not telling you. I was embarrassed, but also really scared."

"What would you be _scared_ to tell me?"

"Riley…"

"What is it, Riker?"

"Riley, I'm in love with you."


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

 **Riker POV**

Riley's expression didn't change. She had a straight face, and she wasn't saying anything. I was starting to freak out. I even started… crying. I had messed up. Big time.

"Riley, I'm so sorry! I didn't want to tell you because I thought you wouldn't like me back, and then things would be weird between us! And then you were mad at me, and tonight was the deadline, and I just needed to tell you how I felt!"

"Riker-"

"And I thought since you were mad, maybe I could make it up to you by taking you out on this boat, since you like boats, and I had to pay this guy tons of money."

"Riker-"

"And I just wanted everything to be perfect in case you liked me back! And I'm so sorry for not telling you, and then telling you now, but I had to!"

"RIKER!"

"What?"

"Why are you crying?"

"Because I'm upset, Riley! Tonight was the night I've been dreading since I met you because I didn't know what you would say back!"

"I haven't said _anything_ back."

"Oh… Please don't be mean… I want to still be friends with you forever, Riley. I just… I love you…"

"Riker, when I first met you, I thought you were just some random guy. I thought you were the kind of person that you saw sometimes, and talked, but never really got to know. But you're not. You and I have hung out so much since you moved here. We've had great times, and not so great times. And you definitely saved me a few times. I honestly don't know what I would've done without you. And throughout the time that I've gotten to know you, I've started to… like you too. I wasn't aware that I liked you until a few days ago. And then we had the fight, so I didn't say anything. But I like you too, and I'm sorry you were so stressed out about telling me. But I think it would be awesome if you would be my boyfriend."

 **Riley POV**

I pour my heart out to the guy, and he faints…

"Riker! Come on, wake up!"

Luckily, he didn't have a rough landing. He hit his head on the seat, but the seat was squishy, so it probably didn't hurt. But I was in an awkward position trying to squat on the floor because there was almost no room.

"Riker, come on! We're on a boat! This is not a good place to be unconscious!"

I stood up, cupped my hands, and got some lake water. I poured it on his forehead while brushing his hair back from his face.

"Riley? What happened?"

"You fainted when I told you I loved you too."

"So it's true then!?"

"Yeah."

"That's amazing!"

Riker stood up a little too quickly, and almost fell headfirst into the water, but I grabbed his hand just in time.

"Here, you sit down. I'll drive us back to the dock," I said.

"You really love me?"

"Yes, Riker! I really love you."

"Why?"

"Because you're cute, and you're really funny."

"Why else?"

"Riker, there's too many things to name. How about you tell me why you like _me_."

"Everything about you is amazing, Riley. Your smile, your eyes, your random talents, your sense of humor… Everything… I love everything about you, Riley. I like how you can be devious at times, but you really care about people, and you would never want to hurt anyone. Riley, I love everything. I love you so much, and it makes me feel amazing inside to know that you like me too."

I laughed.

"What?"

"You're talking like you're in a fantasy world, and everything's perfect."

"Riley, when I'm with you, that _is_ my fantasy world, and everything _is_ perfect."

"Aww Riker."

"Everything's perfect. I have my dream girl, I'm living in my dream place. Nothing could mess this up."

 **Later that night…**

 **Riker POV**

My phone woke me up around 2:30. Riley's name showed up as the caller.

"Riley?"

"No, uh… This is Riley's father. Are you Riker?"

I was totally confused. Why would Riley's father call me _now_? And he sounded… weird… Was he… crying?

"Yeah?"

"Riley's in the hospital."

"What!?"


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

 **Riker POV**

"Riley's where!?"

"In the hospital. She had told us when she came back tonight that you were her boyfriend. I thought since you were her boyfriend, you should be one of the first people to know about this."

"What happened!?"

"Look, I don't want to do this over the phone. I can tell you when I get back in the morning."

"Wait! Can I come to the hospital?"

"Uh… I guess so. But I don't know if you'll be able to see her. _We_ haven't even been able to see her."

"What hospital?"

"I don't remember what it's called. It's the only one in Bolton Landing."

"Ok. I'm leaving now."

"Bye Riker."

I jumped out of bed, grabbed a pair of skinny jeans and a shirt, switched my clothes, and got in my car.

When I got to the hospital, I immediately saw Riley's parents sitting in the waiting room. Riley's mom was crying into her husband's shoulder. I also saw Riley's uncle. I walked over and sat down next to him.

"So what happened? Is she going to be ok?" I asked, scared to hear the answer.

If they're crying, it's probably serious.

"We don't know yet," said Riley's dad.

"Really? What happened!?"

"Did Riley ever mention someone named Dylan?"

No way. It couldn't be…

"Uh… Yeah… Why?"

"He tried to kill her tonight. And he may end up succeeding."

"What!?"

"He broke into our house tonight, and went to Riley's room. He tried to stab her to death. She has cuts all over her body now. Her screaming woke us up, and we caught him with the knife in his hand. I tackled him, while my wife called 911. Dylan got arrested, and Riley got taken here. She lost a ton of blood, and we don't know how bad the cuts are. They won't let us see her yet because they're trying to save her life. Riker, are you ok?"

"Uh… Yeah… I just have to use the bathroom."

I practically ran to the bathroom and locked myself in there. How could Dylan do this to her!? Riley was such a sweet girl! But more importantly, he might have ended her life tonight, and that was _not_ ok with me. I must have cried in the bathroom for a long time, because Riley's uncle came knocking on the door.

"Riker? Are you ok?"

I opened the bathroom door and let him in.

"I can't believe she might die!" I shouted, sliding down the wall to the floor.

"I know. And I know you loved her. It was _obvious_ you loved her. I could tell when you guys would hang out. I would watch you staring at her. You had such a dreamy look on your face. I always wondered when you would finally ask her out."

"I asked her out _tonight_. We haven't even been dating a whole day, and I might have lost my girlfriend! I never even got the chance to kiss her…"

"But she might make it."

"But what if she doesn't! I loved her so much!"

"I know you did…"

"I'm just so scared!"

"But Riker, even if she does die, she'll die knowing that you loved her, and now you know how she felt too. You won't be stuck wondering for the rest of your life what Riley thought about you."

"I don't care! I just want her to be ok! I want her to be ok more than anything in the world!"

"I think we all want that right now…"

 **Later…**

 **Riker POV**

Riley's father finished talking to a doctor, and came back over to where we were all sitting.

"Riley still hasn't woken up. That's not a good sign, and it's not looking good for her," said Riley's dad.

My heart just about died right then.

"But the doctors agreed to let us go in and see her, one at a time."

I was the last to go in to see Riley. I walked nervously down the hallway until I got to Riley's room. I pushed the door open slowly. Riley was lying there, unconscious. Seeing her like that made me feel like this was it. This was the end of _us_. But I was so sure we were supposed to be together. Telling her how I felt, felt so right. Why were we getting ripped apart?

"R-Riley?"

I knelt down next to her bed, crying as quietly as I could, not that it made a difference. I gently took one of her hands in mine.

"Riley, it's Riker. I just hope you can hear this. I need to tell you this in case you… in case you die… Riley, I love you. And you know that now. But I'll always love you. I'll love you if you get better. I'll love you if we fight. I'll love you if we break up. And I'll love you even if you don't make it through the night. I'll love you forever, Riley. Please wake up. Please be ok. You don't deserve this. Dylan's the one who deserves to be here. Not you, Riley… I love you _so_ much."

I placed a kiss on Riley's forehead before leaving. I stopped at the door and looked back.

"Please be ok," I whispered.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

 **Riker POV**

I slowly walked back to the waiting room. What if she wasn't ok? She _needed_ to be ok!

"Are you ok, Riker?" Riley's uncle asked me.

"No. I might lose her…" I said, crying even harder.

"Riker, can I talk to you for a second?" Riley's dad asked.

"Sure…"

I followed Riley's dad outside the hospital. We walked out to the parking lot so we were somewhat alone. I couldn't help looking at the moon and the stars. Riley and I had just been looking at them too, tonight. It was only a few hours ago that Riley and I were on that boat. This seemed like a dream. I wished it was. I needed Riley, and I wouldn't know what to do without her.

"Riker, listen. I know you love Riley, and you're her boyfriend and everything. In fact, I think you're the best boyfriend she's ever had. But I don't think we're going to get any more news about Riley tonight. I can see how much this is hurting you, and I really think you should go home, and get some sleep. If anything happens, I promise I'll call you the second we hear anything. But you being here, isn't accomplishing anything. You're just upsetting yourself even more, and losing sleep."

"I'll go home."

"Ok. Do you want me to drive you?"

"No. I can drive myself."

When I got home, it was close to 5:00, and the sun was just starting to come up. I angrily walked up the stairs, louder than I should have, and flicked my bedroom light on, waking Rocky up.

"Ugh Riker! Shut the light off! What are you doing?" Rocky asked, talking into his pillow.

"Sorry Rocky, but my girlfriend is dying!"

"What!? Are you serious!?"

"Riley might die tonight. Or… today… or… whatever! She might not make it because her stupid ex boyfriend tried to murder her! Ugh! I'm so mad at him!"

"Riker, calm down. The rest of the neighborhood doesn't need to know about this! Stop shouting."

"Sorry. I need to go."

"Where?"

"Down to the docks."

"With your guitar?"

"I'm writing a song."

"Why guitar, not bass?"

"Because I feel like it!"

"Why go to the docks?"

"That was Riley's special thinking spot. I'll have inspiration down there."

"Wait! Riker! Do you need to talk?"

"No. I don't want to talk about this."

"Ok, well… Good luck, I guess..."

I walked down to the docks, and unpacked my guitar. I took out my notebook and a pen. With my feet dangling in the water, I started thinking about the lyrics. By 8:00, I had a song.

I got a text from Riley's phone that said to come back to the hospital ASAP. I didn't know if she was alright, or if she was gone. It just said to come back, so that's what I was doing. I threw my guitar in the backseat, and drove back to the hospital.

I met everyone inside. They seemed worried, so I was scared Riley was gone.

"Riker, Riley still hasn't woken up. If she doesn't wake up soon… Well… The doctors said it might help if we went in and talked to her. They said it might help her to wake up. We all tried talking to her, but nothing's working. You're basically her last chance."

"Can I sing to her?"

"You can try whatever you think will help."

I ran out to the parking lot to get my guitar. I almost crashed into several people on my way to Riley's room because I was moving so quickly.

I opened my case, took out my guitar, and my notebook. I was going to sing her the song I had just written.

"Riley? It's Riker. Can you hear me? I'm going to sing you a song I wrote just for you, ok? I wrote it this morning. I hope you like it. It's called _Without_ _You_."

I sat down on the end of Riley's bed, and started playing.

"You're on my mind every night, and in the morning when I wake.

Don't leave me lonely, can you just hold me together before I break.

I just can't breathe without you, without you.

I'm so lonely without you, without you.

I just can't be without you, without you.

'Cause today, you are all I need.

There is something I see in your eyes.

Oh and it gives me butterflies.

I just can't stop thinkin'.

You make me weaken.

Don't you know I will be true.

I just can't breathe without you, without you.

I'm so lonely without you, without you.

I just can't be without you, without you.

'Cause today, you are all I need.

I'm going crazy without you.

I'm going crazy without you.

I'm going crazy, going crazy!

I just can't breathe without you, without you.

I'm so lonely without you, without you.

I just can't be without you, without you.

'Cause today, you are all I need."

I looked up from my notebook. Riley was still laying there. It was breaking my heart just looking at her. I laid my guitar down on the ground next to her bed. I knelt on the floor, and took her hand in mine.

"Riley, please. Please wake up. I love you so much. But I don't know what to do! Riley, please! I need you! I need to hear your voice at least one more time! I need to see your smile! I need to hear your laugh! Oh Riley please!"

I leaned forward and laid my head on the edge of the bed. I cried even harder remembering everything we did together starting with the first day we met. I remembered when we went into town. And then when I found her that night when she was crying. I comforted her that night. And when I came running over the night she was home alone. I could make her feel safe. I remember taking her out for lunch in Lake George, and then staying for dinner. I remember the arguments, and the makeups. I remember the embarrassing moments. And yesterday, I remember trying to convince her to come out with me. I remember telling her how I felt, and assuming that was a mistake. But then Riley said she loved me too, and that was the only thing I ever wanted to hear. I remember bringing her home, and thinking, this is the best day of my life. And then getting the call, and coming to the hospital. When I wrote the song, I wasn't thinking that Riley would never hear it. I was thinking that she'd be ok, and I'd sing it for her, and she'd love me even more for writing her a song. But… She probably won't ever hear it now… But that doesn't matter. I only want her to get better.

"I only want you to get better…"

I rubbed my eyes with my hands. I didn't want to ever move from this spot. But I knew eventually, I would have to. I still had Riley's hand in mine. I intertwined our fingers one last time. Her fingers just hung there loosely. I put my head down on the bed again, and cried even harder. It was going to take everything in me to pull myself away from this room, but I knew once I left, that would probably be the end for Riley.

I felt Riley's hand move, and her fingers moved between mine. I looked up, but she was still the same. I put my head back down, and rubbed my eyes with my free hand.

"Why are you crying?"

My eyes widened as I stared at the floor. I slowly looked up, and saw Riley looking at me with a confused expression on her face.

"RILEY! YOU'RE OK!"

I wrapped my arms loosely around her, trying not to hurt her from all of her cuts.

"What? Riker what are you talking about?"

"You almost died!"

"What!?"

"Don't you remember anything?"

"I remember… I remember going out on the boat with you, and you told me that you loved me. And I told you I loved you too. That's it. Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital."

"Why?"

"Hold on. I'll be right back."

I practically sprinted back to the waiting room.

"She's ok!" I shouted.

Riley's family all started walking toward Riley's room after hugging each other.

"Wait. She doesn't remember what happened."

Riley's uncle hung back to talk to me.

"Riker, the doctors said she might not remember anything because of everything Dylan did to her. It was traumatic, and they said she had a slight concussion. Dylan probably slammed her into the ground or a wall or something. They said her memory would probably come back, but only in bits and pieces."

"Ok. That makes sense."

I walked with Riley's uncle back to Riley's room. Riley was talking to a few nurses and doctors. I sat down in a chair, exhausted, but so incredibly happy that Riley was ok.

The nurses left, and after Riley's family got a chance to talk to her, Riley's father pulled me aside.

"Riker, we think that Riley should know what happened last night. But we think you should tell her, but very gently."

"Ok."

"Thanks."

Everyone left, leaving Riley and I alone. I sat down on the end of her bed. Riley was sitting up, facing me.

"Hi," Riley said, smiling.

"Hi."

"Can we leave soon?"

"I don't know, Riley."

"Did I really almost die?"

"Yeah."

"You looked really upset."

"Riley, I love you! You mean everything to me! If you died, I would be heartbroken."

"Wow… So what happened to me?"

"What do you remember?"

"I remember you dropping me off at home, and then I had some cereal, and I went to bed. And now I'm here. Should I remember something else?"

"Yeah…"

"Do _you_ know what happened?"

"Yeah."

"Will you tell me?"

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"Riker, of course I do. There are scratches and cuts and blood all over me. I want to know what happened to me."

"Ok… Well… You know Dylan?"

"Dylan did this to me!?"

"Uh… Yeah…"

"How!?"

"Your dad said that he broke into your house last night. He had a knife, and he tried to kill you with it. But you fought back. Your dad woke up because you screamed, and ran in. Dylan had you pinned to the ground."

"Where's Dylan?"

"In jail."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"What happens after he gets out?"

"Riley, they actually found that something's wrong with Dylan, mentally. He's going to a mental facility. He's not coming out, and you'll be safe."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive."

"So he really tried to kill me?"

"Yeah."

"That's crazy… And I almost died?"

"Yeah. You had lost a lot of blood, and gotten a concussion. The doctors said you weren't waking up, and if you didn't wake up soon, you probably wouldn't."

"So what happened?"

"Well, your dad told me to go home a few hours ago because he wanted me to get some sleep. He felt bad because I came rushing to the hospital, and I was really upset."

"Wait. How did you know I was at the hospital?"

"Your dad called me in the middle of the night."

"My dad called you!?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well I told him you were my boyfriend, and he doesn't exactly like the idea of me dating."

"Oh… Well your dad actually talked to me about that. He said he knew you would want me here. So he called me in the middle of the night. I immediately came here."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Sorry, I'm just not used to people actually caring about me, like… Dylan…"

"It's ok."

"Will I ever remember?"

"The doctors said you might, but probably only bits and pieces."

Riley's family all came back into the room.

"Riley, the doctors said we can go home now. But you have to take medicine every few hours, and you need to be really careful of your cuts," said Riley's father.

"Ok."

"Riker, do you want to drive Riley home?" Riley's father asked.

My eyes widened.

"Really!?"

"Yeah, I think Riley would prefer if _you_ drove her home."

"Ok!"

I had my arm loosely around Riley as we walked out to my car. I put my guitar in the backseat, and helped Riley get in. Riley's parents waited for me so I could follow them home.

"Why did you bring your guitar?"

"This morning when your dad suggested I go home, I didn't go back to bed. I went down to your thinking spot on the docks, and wrote a song. Your dad texted me to come back, so I just threw my guitar in my car and headed back to the hospital."

"Wait, then why did you bring it in to the hospital?"

"Well…"

"What happened?"

"The doctors said you weren't waking up. Your family all tried talking to you because sometimes that can help someone to wake up, but it didn't work. Your dad texted me and told me that I was basically your last chance."

"So? Your guitar?"

"I sang you the song I wrote this morning. When I was finished, you were still just laying there. I didn't know what else to do."

"You were kneeling by my bed, crying."

"I was thinking about the memories, starting with when we met. It was only a few hours ago that we were together, and then you were lying there unconscious and I thought you were going to die."

"Then what?"

"Then you asked me why I was crying, and I was shocked to hear your voice again."

"But happy?"

"Riley, I was the happiest I've ever been."

"Really?"

"Yes! I love you, Riley!"

"I love you too."

We pulled into our road. I helped Riley get out.

"Riker? Can Riley stay at your house for a little while? We want to clean up her room before she comes back," said Riley's father.

"Sure!"

Riley and I walked to my house. We sat down in the living room on the couch, diagonal from Rocky, who was sitting in a chair.

"My god…" Rocky whispered, covering his mouth with his hand.

I realized Riley did look kind of scary. She had giant cuts everywhere, and dried blood all over herself since she was still in the same clothes as she was last night.

"Rocky!" I shouted, mad and embarrassed that he would say something like that.

"Oh… Sorry…"

"It's ok, Rocky. Everyone pretty much had that same reaction," said Riley.

Riley laid down across my lap.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, just tired."

Riley took one of my hands and started playing with it.

"Am I allowed to have food?" Riley asked.

"Uh… I don't know… I'll call your dad and ask him."

"No, you're comfortable!"

I smiled. I gently lifted Riley, and placed her on top of Rocky.

Riley's father said she shouldn't eat anything for another hour because she's supposed to take her medicine first, wait a little while, and then she can eat.

I came back into the living room.

"Here, you go sit down," Rocky said, picking Riley up again.

He put Riley back on my lap, and then sat down again.

"Can I eat?"

"No. You have to wait about an hour, and then take your medicine. Then a little after that, you can eat."

"Ugh! But I'm starving! It's almost like dinnertime and I missed lunch and breakfast!"

"Just don't think about it."

"How can I not think about how hungry I am?"

"I don't know. Let's do something and take your mind off it."

"Like what?"

"Uh…"

"Can we go down to the docks, and then you can sing me your song?"

"Ok, but you have to be careful because you're… You know…"

"I'll be careful. Can we go?"

"Sure."

Riley and walked outside. I got my guitar out of my car, and walked down the road to the beach and the docks.

I played Riley _Without_ _You_ , and she loved it. We talked for a while about random stuff. By the time I checked my phone, it was almost time to go head back up so she could take her medicine.

"Come on, we have to go up so you can take your medicine. And it's getting dark anyway."

"Ok."

Riley and I got about halfway up the road before she stopped.

"Riker wait, I feel lightheaded."

"Are you ok!?"

Riley sat down on the side of the road.

"Yeah, but I think not eating anything for almost 24 hours is making me feel awful."

"Oh, ok."

Riley looked a little pale, and she stayed there on the side of the road for a few minutes. I sat down next to her.

"How are you feeling now?"

"Like I have no energy."

"Are you still lightheaded?"

"No."

"Are you ready to keep going? We're only like 500 feet from your house."

"Fine."

Riley and I walked about 20 feet before she stopped again.

"What's wrong?"

"Sorry. I'm just… out of breath…"

"Here, get on my back. I'll carry you back."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

I knelt down so Riley could get on. She weighed almost nothing. I carried her back to her house after dropping my guitar off on my front steps.

"There you two are! Riley, it's time for you to take your medicine," said Riley's dad.

I put Riley down on a chair in the kitchen.

"Can I have food now?" Riley asked.

"No, you're supposed to wait 30 minutes before eating."

"But I'm starving! I haven't eaten anything in a whole day! Riker had to carry me up from the beach because I didn't have enough energy! And that was probably hard for him because he had to carry his guitar too!"

"So that's why he was carrying you…"

"Yup."

"Well I supposed maybe you could have something to eat in 15 minutes then."

"Yes! Can Riker stay for dinner too!?"

"Sure."

Riley's father started getting ready to make dinner.

"Do you need help?" I asked.

"Sure, can you carry these?"

"Yeah."

I helped Riley's father carry stuff out to his grill where he was making hamburgers.

"Her Riker? Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Yeah."

Riley's father shut the door.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Caring about my daughter. You carried her back here when she was too tired, you showed up at the hospital in the middle of the night, and I know by the way you act around her, that you love her a lot. Just thanks for everything, and being there for her. She hasn't had a boyfriend like you before."

I smiled.

"Thanks."

I sat down in the kitchen next to Riley.

"Hi," said Riley.

She seemed to like saying that a lot lately. But it was cute.

"Hi, Riley."

"I'm starving!"

"Your dad's making dinner."

"Good. Can you tell me more about what happened to me?"

"Riley, you don't want to know about that."

"Please?"

"Later, I promise."

"Fine."

Riley got up to go to the bathroom. When she came back, she had a weird expression on her face.

"What?" I asked.

"I look awful."

"Riley, you almost died!"

"I know! But there's blood all in my hair and everything! There's blood all over my clothes and arms and… I look disgusting!"

"Riley, you look beautiful."

"Riker, you don't have to say that."

"But it's true, Riley."

"Aww. Well… Thanks."

 **Later…**

 **Riker POV**

I had gone home for the night because Riley was going to try to take a shower, carefully. I figured I would see her in the morning, but I was wrong.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

 **Later…**

 **Riley POV**

I screamed. Before I knew it, my parents were in my room, and the lights were practically blinding me. I was crying, and I couldn't stop.

"Riley, what happened?" My dad asked.

"I saw him!"

"Who!?"

"Dylan!"

"What?"

"I saw last night! He had a knife and he was walking toward me!"

"Riley, you're ok. Dylan can't hurt you anymore," said my dad.

"Riley, please try to calm down, you're fine," said my mom.

"I want Riker!"

"Riley, Riker's sleeping. I'm not going to call him or anything just because you want him. You can see him in the morning."

Someone knocked on our door, so my dad went to answer it.

"Well surprise, surprise. It's Riker," my dad called back.

My parents went to go back to sleep, and Riker walked in. Just like the other time he came over in the middle of the night, he wasn't wearing a shirt.

"Why are you here?" I asked, still crying.

"I heard you scream. What happened?"

"I had a nightmare. But it wasn't a nightmare. I saw part of what happened last night. Dylan was holding a knife, and he was walking toward me!"

"It's ok, Riley."

Riker closed my door, flicked my light off, sat down on my bed, and hugged me.

"I'm sorry that happened," Riker said.

I sighed and leaned against him.

"Riker?"

"Yeah?"

"How come you don't wear shirts to bed? You weren't wearing one the other time you came here in the middle of the night."

"I wear shirts to bed! I was wearing shirts when you slept over my house, wasn't I?"

"Well yeah… Ok, then why don't you wear shirts _sometimes_?"

"Because… Because I get hot sometimes, and it's comfortable."

 **Riker POV**

"You were hot _tonight_? I'm freezing!"

"Well I'm cold _now_. But I wasn't when I was in bed."

Riley looked up at me, and even though it was really dark, I could still see that she looked really tired.

"Riley, you look exhausted. Why don't you try to get some sleep?"

"But you're here."

"Riley, you can see me in the morning."

"You remember how when I slept over your house, we slept on the couch, and I slept on your lap?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we do that again?"

"Riley, that's not the most comfortable place to sleep."

"Then can we sleep on the ground? I want you to stay."

"If your parents say it's ok, then I'll stay."

Riley got up, and returned a few minutes later.

"You're staying."

"Ok."

Riley pulled a bunch of blankets out of her closet. I helped her set up 2 beds. I laid down next to her on the floor. Riley laid down too, and took my hand. She intertwined our fingers, and closed her eyes.

"Goodnight Riker…"

"Goodnight."

 **Later…**

 **Riker POV**

The sun wasn't even up yet when Riley screamed again, waking everyone up. Her parents came running in, and turned the light on. Riley was sitting up shaking, and crying. She was also holding onto my hand really tight.

"Riley what happened?" Riley's dad asked.

"He tried to get me! He tried to kill me but I pushed him to the ground! He grabbed my arm and pulled me down on top of him, and he tried to cut me!"

"Did anything else happen?" Riley's dad asked.

"I don't think so…"

"Riley, calm down. You're fine."

"I'm not fine! I keep seeing him!"

"We'll look into taking you to a therapist tomorrow. Go back to sleep."

"But he tried to kill me!"

"Riley, go back to sleep."

Riley's parents left, but Riley was still shaking, and squeezing my hand tightly.

"Riley, you're safe," I said, sitting up.

"I know, but that really scared me!"

"I know."

Riley still looked terrified. But I couldn't blame her. She was attacked and almost killed.

"Riley, it's still dark out. Why don't you try to get some more sleep."

"I can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I see him."

"Aww, Riley. I'm sorry."

"Riker, I can't do this anymore! Something needs to change! I need help! It's killing me inside!"

Riley crawled onto my lap, wrapped her arms around me, and cried into my shoulder.

"I want it to stop, Riker. Please make it stop!"

"Riley, I would, but I don't know what to do."

"Distract me."

"How?"

"I don't know! Tell me stuff about yourself."

"Like what?"

"Like tell me how long you've been playing the guitar. I didn't know you wrote songs and stuff."

"Oh. Well I've been playing the guitar for a few years, but that's not what I play mainly. I play bass. I'm actually in a band."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"With who?"

"With my siblings and Ellington."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"That's so cool."

"Thanks…"

"Did you really write that song for _me_?"

"Yeah. I was scared I was going to lose you. And I really couldn't imagine my life without you."

"Aww…"

"Come on Riley. Let's try to get some sleep, ok?"

"Riker-"

"Come on Riley. I promise you'll be fine. Trust me. Please?"

"I trust you, but I'm scared, Riker!"

"Riley, I'm right here, ok? If you need anything, just wake me up."

"Riker?"

"What, Riley?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, Riley."

"But next time you come running over, can you grab a shirt on your way out?"

"Riley!"

"I'm sorry but it's bothering me!"

"Why?"

"Because it's weird!"

"Ugh! Riley, just go to bed."

"But I'm comfortable here."

"Sitting on my lap?"

"Yeah…"

"Riley, come on. I'll be right next to you."

Riley looked up at me. Her eyes were pleading to stay.

"Ok, I have an idea. We'll compromise," I said.

Riley laid down next to me, and I put my arm around her so she felt safe. Riley turned to face me.

"Are you going to protect me?"

"You don't need protecting."

"But will you anyway, just in case?"

"Of course, Riley."

Riley closed her eyes, and before I knew it, we were both asleep.

 **Later…**

 **Riker POV**

I woke up when something slammed into my stomach. There was finally daylight, so I could see. Before I got a chance to sit up and see what happened, I got whacked in the stomach again pretty hard. It was Riley's arm. Riley was moving around uncomfortably, and she looked like she was dreaming about Dylan. Her arm came slamming into my stomach yet again.

"Ugh! Riley wake up! Riley!"

Riley immediately woke up, and grabbed my arm.

"Good morning," I said, hoping she wouldn't remember what she was just dreaming about.

"He stabbed me. Over and over again. He tried to go for my heart, but I punched him in the stomach."

"That's why…"

"That's why, what?"

"Your arm came flying into my stomach multiple times this morning."

"Oh my gosh! Really!? I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! Oh my gosh… Are you ok?"

"Yeah. My stomach just hurts a little."

"I'm so sorry…"

"Riley it's fine. I know you didn't mean to."

Riley brushed her fingers over my stomach gently as if that was doing something.

"Can you make me breakfast?" Riley asked.

I was glad she changed the subject.

"Sure."

I helped Riley sit up. She was in a lot of pain since her medicine had worn off since last night.

"What hurts?" I asked.

"Everything. Everything feels sore and tight and awful."

"Come on, you should probably go take your medicine."

I helped Riley walk out to the kitchen. Her dad had her medicine laid out for her this morning. Riley took her pills, and then she walked out onto the porch where her dad was sitting.

"Oh good, you're up," said Riley's dad.

"Yeah. I almost… Screamed again…"

"Your mother is looking up therapists near here. They're going to help you, Riley."

"Good. I don't want to wake you up every night just because I had a dream about Dylan. But I'm not screaming after I wake up. I'm screaming while I'm still asleep, and that's what wakes me up, so I'm not intentionally screaming. It just kind of happens."

"I know Riley. I know you wouldn't normally do something like that. How do you feel today?"

"Awful. Everything hurts."

"Well it'll take some time before you're feeling better again."

"I know. Can I go to Riker's? He's going to make me breakfast."

"Sure. Riker, how are you, this morning?"

"Good, a little bit tired though."

"Yeah… I hope you know you didn't have to stay last night if you didn't want to."

"I know. But Riley wanted me here, and I wanted to be here for her."

Riley grabbed my hand suddenly.

"Can we go? I'm hungry."

"Sure."

 **Later…**

 **Riker POV**

I walked back over to my house alone, and sat down next to Rocky on the couch.

"Where's your girlfriend?"

"At home."

"Why aren't you with her?"

"She's leaving to go see a therapist in a few minutes."

"Really? What happened last night? You ran out at like 2:00. You said you'd tell me later."

"Yeah… Well Riley's having these dreams, which aren't really dreams, about what happened the night Dylan tried to murder her."

"What do you mean they aren't dreams?"

"She's remembering what happened."

"Oh… So she's having dreams which aren't really dreams… Why did that mean that you had to go over there?"

"Well… She wakes up screaming, and you can't blame her, she's seeing herself about to get murdered. I heard her scream, so I went over there. She wanted me to stay, so I did. She woke up screaming again around 4:00. Then a few hours ago, I woke her up before she could wake herself up. I'm really worried about her though."

"Why? You said her ex is in jail, and she's alive."

"No… I mean because she keeps seeing what happened. She's going to a therapist, Rocky! That means there's something wrong!"

"Oh… Well then wouldn't it just be easier to break up with her so you didn't have to deal with that?"

"No! Rocky, I love her! And I still love her even though she can't really sleep."

"I don't know how you like that."

"Well I don't like it. I got punched in the stomach this morning. The thing I like is that she feels vulnerable. I don't mean that in a mean way, but since she feels like that, she's more clingy to me. In a good way though."

"How so?"

"I don't know… Like… She didn't want me to leave last night. And she didn't want to go back to sleep because she just wanted to stay in my arms. I like it."

"You only like it because you feel like she needs you."

"She does."

"Riker, she'd be fine without you."

"Rocky, that's not true. She loves me, and she loves having me with her all the time."

"Ok… If you think so…"

Riley needs me, right?


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

 **Later…**

 **Riker POV**

This was going to be Riley's second night home from the hospital. I went over after she had dinner to see if the therapist had helped.

"Hey Riley," I said as she opened the door.

"Hi."

Riley grabbed my hand and pulled me into her room.

"So how was the therapist?"

"I don't know…"

"Do you think it helped?"

"We'll find out tonight. Are you going to stay with me again?"

"I wasn't going to."

"Can you?"

"Again?"

"Yeah…"

"Why do you want me to?"

"Because I know you're going to protect me."

"From what?"

"Dylan."

"Riley, Dylan's gone. He's in a mental facility. You'll never see him again."

"I know, but he's still here in my head. Please stay."

"Fine, but let me go home first so I can get changed and stuff," I said, standing up.

"No wait! You can do that later. I haven't seen you all day. I want to talk for a little while."

"Ok. What do you want to talk about?"

"I want to know why you care about me so much."

"Riley, I love you. You know that."

"I know, but that's crazy."

"Why is it crazy?"

"Because I love you too… Did my dad tell you about my medicine?"

"No, what about it?"

"He said it makes me act not like myself. Do you think he's right?"

"Well… I mean you're still Riley. But you do seem a little… I don't know… Like you can't think clearly I guess…"

"My dad said that I got stupider."

"You didn't get stupider. You're just on medicine that affects your brain a little. Once you finish it, you'll be back to normal again."

"Ok… Is there anything _you_ wanted to talk about?"

"Well actually… There is one thing…"

"What?"

"Well I was talking to Rocky today. He said something, and it made me a little unsure of what the answer was…"

"What?"

"Like… Ok… He said that you don't need me. And I thought that you definitely did, especially now because of what happened, and you're emotional and stuff. But he just made me think for a minute, and I was just questioning myself…"

"What do you want me to say?"

"Do you need me? Like would you be fine without me?"

"Riker, I'm not sure _need_ is the right word. It's not like my life would come crashing down if you weren't here. But if you weren't here all the time, my life would definitely be worse. And I'm sure I could make it through life if I never met you, but it's so much easier with you here. But thinking about it now… You've saved me so many times from bad stuff happening… I don't think I would say I _need_ you. But if I didn't have you, my life would definitely be a lot worse."

"But you like having me around and stuff?"

"Of course."

"Ok, good."

"And I don't mean to say I don't need you. It's not like that. Like I could go through life never talking about my problems, but since I have you, I tell you. And I like that. So I guess I kind of do need you… For certain things…"

"Ok… Can I go get changed now?"

"Fine… But bring a shirt!"

"Riley!"

I ran back over to my house. But before I went to go get changed, I went to the kitchen to talk to Rocky.

"She _does_ need me. What do you think about that!?" I shouted.

Rocky just gave me an annoyed glare. I slowly backed out of the room and ran up the stairs to get changed.

When I got back to Riley's, she already had our beds made up on the ground.

"Riker?" Riley asked.

"Yeah?"

"Do you really think I'm safe?"

"Yes, I do."

"Why?"

"Because Dylan's in jail or the mental place."

Riley seemed to be thinking about something.

"Riley?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I guess so…"

"Don't you trust me? I'll keep you safe."

"Yeah…"

 **Later that night…**

 **Riker POV**

I got whacked in the stomach again. I looked over at the clock. It was almost 3:00. Riley's arm whacked me again, only this time it was harder.

"UH! Riley! Wake up!"

Riley grabbed my arm.

"Riker!?"

"I'm right here," I said, touching her back with my other hand.

"Did I do anything?"

"You punched me in the stomach again. Really hard," I said, leaning forward, trying to help the pain.

"I'm sorry."

"It's ok… What happened in your dream?"

"It's not a dream."

"I know, but I don't know what else to call it."

"Oh. Well Dylan was there, obviously. He pulled me down to the ground on top of him. He kept trying to stab me. I punched him a bunch of times. He kept throwing me around the room. I slammed into the wall and the floor a bunch of times. He kept trying to kill me, but he kept missing, and cutting other parts of my body."

"So I guess that therapist didn't do much for you…"

"Not yet…"

"Do you want to go back to sleep?"

"Why would I want to go back to sleep? I know that I'll wake up seeing Dylan."

"Riley, you need your sleep."

"I know… But I hate going through this. And I'm hurting you! See? You're all hunched over because I hurt your stomach!"

"Riley, you'll eventually get over this. It won't be forever."

"I just wish it would stop."

"So do I, Riley. Do you want to go to sleep now?"

"I'll go back to sleep if you hold my hand."

"Ok."

 **Morning…**

 **Riker POV**

I woke up when Riley started moving around. I knew she must be having one of her dreams again.

"Riley, wake up! Riley!"

"What!?"

"Are you ok?"

"Uh… Yeah, I guess so…"

"Did anything else happen this time?"

"No. It was right before I started punching him."

"Thank goodness."

"What?"

"I didn't feel like getting hit in the stomach again this morning."

"Oh… Sorry about last night…"

"It's fine. So how are you feeling?"

"Achy. And I can't move anything. It hurts my cuts."

"Then you should take your medicine."

"I guess so…"

 **2 Weeks Later…**

 **Riker POV**

"So how has Riley been?" Rocky asked me.

"I don't know…"

"Well she must be doing better. You don't sleep over there anymore."

"Well… I don't know… She told me that she keeps waking up in the middle of the night, but she doesn't scream anymore, so that's good, I guess. But it's still awful that she can't sleep through the night. Every day she's always exhausted. And I know that's partly because of the pills she's taking, but she's not getting a good night of sleep."

"At least she doesn't scream anymore. That must be nice for her parents."

"Well yeah… But she's terrified her ex is going to come back and kill her."

"That's… Not so good…"

"I know… But she's doing better since the whole incident. Like I mean with her cuts and stuff. She's feeling better from that…"

"Well that's good, at least."

"Yeah… But she's also addicted to her phone now."

"I thought you said it ended up in the lake."

"Well… It did. But I found it. Riley dried it out, and it works again."

"Why is she obsessed with her phone now?"

"I don't know. I think it might be a distraction thing. Like so she won't think about her ex and stuff. But her parents aren't happy about it. They think it's taking over her life now."

"Well have you said anything about it?"

"To Riley?"

"Yeah."

"No! I don't want her to get mad at me."

"Alright then…"

 **A Few Days Later…**

 **Riker POV**

I watched Riley jump off the raft. A few seconds later, she came back up, and swam over to the edge of the raft where I was sitting.

"How long do you think it's been now?" Riley asked.

"Probably only like 20 minutes."

"Ugh!"

"Riley, you're addicted to your phone. That's not good! And it's only been 20 minutes. You can go a little longer."

"Ugh! Can't we just go back _now_?"

"Riley, you know your parents aren't going to give your phone back yet."

"But I need it!"

"You don't need it, Riley."

"UGH!"

Riley rested her head on the side of the raft.

"Riley, why do you want your phone anyways?"

"Because I need it!"

"Why, though?"

"Because then I can go on Instagram, and go on twitter, and text people."

"Riley, you shouldn't be doing that all the time, though. It's better to only do those things _sometimes_. You need to get out and enjoy life. Like swimming."

"I'm not enjoying myself out here, Riker."

"Why not? You used to love to swim. Today was the first day I ever had to force you to get in the lake! You're always the one forcing _me_ to swim!"

"I just don't enjoy swimming anymore."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not my phone…"

"Riley!"

"I don't know how to stop, though! It's calling me! I can hear it!"

"Riley, your phone isn't calling you. Your phone is perfectly happy sitting with your parents back at home."

"But I want it."

"Riley, come on. Don't think about it."

"How can I not!? I'm wearing a swim suit, I can see everything Dylan's done to me, and then I think of my phone!"

"Why do you think of your phone by thinking of Dylan?"

"Because when I think of Dylan, I try to think of something else, and usually I just go on my phone, and push those thoughts out of my head."

"Oh… Well we can still do stuff to help you not think about Dylan."

"Like what?"

"Like we could swim."

"I'm tired of swimming. Let's have a drowning contest."

"Riley."

"I know, I know."

"Pick something that doesn't involve your phone. At least when we're out here, you can't get to it."

"I know… But I don't want to be out here. Besides, the beach is where he almost killed me _first_. I have bad memories here."

"But Riley, think of all the fun times we've had down here. I played you that song, we sat and talked on the docks, I built a mound of sand."

"I don't think that makes up for the whole Dylan thing."

"Ok… Well what about when you pushed me off the dock? What about… when my pants fell down?"

Riley laughed. It was good to see her smiling again.

"Riley, we've had great times down here together. Don't let one bad memory ruin it for you."

"I guess you're right… But do you think we could swim in? I just… don't feel like swimming anymore."

"Fine… But we're not going back to your house. You can't have your phone yet."

"Couldn't I just ask my parents?"

"Riley, you heard what they said. If you bug them for it, it'll just be longer until you get it back."

"I know… Can I use _your_ phone!?"

"Riley, no! You can wait a few more hours. Your parents said you could have it after dinner. You can wait until then."

"But I don't want to…"

"Come on. Let's go back to my house. We'll find something to do there."

"Can you play me that song you wrote for me?"

"Sure."

 **A Few Days Later…**

 **Riley POV**

"So Riley. We were thinking of going on a camping trip. We could hike up a mountain, and just camp there. It would probably be a 3 or 4 night thing," said my dad.

"Where?"

"Cat Mountain."

"Isn't that near the place Dylan's at?"

"Well… Yeah, but Riley, he's not getting out. We'll all be fine."

"When are we going?"

"Tomorrow. But we're leaving early so we can get an early start up the mountain. You'll have to be ready to leave by 8:00. And you are _not_ bringing your phone."

"Dad! What if I get lost!?"

"You won't get lost."

"You don't know that."

"Riley, we'll all be together. You won't get lost."

"Fine, then if I can't bring my phone, I'm bringing Riker."

"Ok, that's fine."

"Really?"

"Sure. He's a really nice guy, and I think you'll be a lot calmer if he comes."

"Awesome! I'll go ask him!"


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

 **Riley POV**

I ran over to Riker's house, and knocked on the door.

"Hey Riley," said Rocky.

"Where's Riker!? I need to ask him something!"

"I think he just got out of the shower."

I ran up the stairs and started pounding on the bathroom door. Riker opened it, and looked confused and embarrassed. But that was probably because he was wearing a towel.

"Riley!?"

I pushed the door open more and walked in.

"Riley, I'm getting dressed!"

"I don't care! That can wait! I have to ask you something really important, and if you don't say yes, I'm going to die!"

"What!?"

"Will you come with me and my family on some stupid camping trip!?"

"Yeah sure. When?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow!?"

"Yeah."

"Couldn't you have told me sooner, like yesterday?"

"I literally just found out 5 minutes ago."

"Well why couldn't that wait until I was dressed?"

"Because I needed to know that you'd come."

"Why is it so important I come?"

"Because I love you."

"Riley, I know that's not the only reason."

"Ok… My dad won't let me bring my phone."

Riker laughed.

"What? This isn't funny."

"I totally knew it. I knew it would be because of your phone. Now can you get out so I can finish getting dressed?"

"Finish? You haven't started yet."

"Exactly. Can you go now? I'll be out in a minute."

"Fine."

 **Riker POV**

When I was done getting dressed, I walked out of the bathroom to find Riley sitting against the wall waiting for me. She was acting really strange today. She seemed more clingy than normal, and like she was hiding something.

"Riley?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we talk for a minute in my room?"

"Yeah."

I took Riley's hand and pulled her into my bedroom. We both sat down on my bed.

"Riley, what's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're acting weird. And not the kind of weird you get like from your pills."

"What are you talking about?"

"You want me to be honest?"

"Yes."

"You've been super clingy lately. I don't really mind. But I've just noticed it. Like… Before we decided to date, you always seemed to want space. But now that we're dating, you always want to do everything with me. I feel like you rely on me a lot, and you just seem more… needy."

"So now you hate me?"

"No! Riley, I don't hate you! I never said I didn't like anything! In fact, I love how you want to do everything with me. I love being with you. I'm just saying, that you're acting different from how you used to. I can't figure out if it's because you're dating me, or because of the whole Dylan thing."

Riley looked down. She knew the answer.

"Riley? Please tell me."

Riley took my hand, and looked back up at me.

"Riker, it's because I'm scared."

"Scared of what?"

"A bunch of things. I'm scared of Dylan coming back. I'm scared you won't be there if I need you. I like always having you around because you said you'd protect me."

Riley suddenly started crying.

"Riley, what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry I've been a horrible girlfriend! I know I've been acting weird. Please don't break up with me, Riker!"

"Riley, shhh! Calm down. I'm not going anywhere. I'll always be right here with you, ok?"

"Riker, I love you so much!" Riley said, wrapping her arms around me.

"I love you too, Riley."

"We still haven't had our first kiss yet, you know…"

"I know. We'll do it when the time is right."

"Ok. So you're definitely coming camping with me?"

"Yeah. What time are we leaving?"

"8:00."

"That's early."

"I know. Oh! And my dad said you're not allowed to bring your phone. He doesn't want me getting any ideas…"

"Ok."

"How are we going to survive without music!?"

"Uh… Maybe you could bring a radio. Your dad might let you do that."

"Yeah but the radio is so… weird… and old…"

"But it's better than nothing, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so… You really still love me?"

"Yeah!"

"Ok. Just checking…"

 **The Next Morning…**

 **Riker POV**

I walked over to Riley's at 7:45, so I would be early in case she needed help with anything.

"Riker, guess what?"

"What?"

"My dad bought tents yesterday!"

"Ok…?"

"He got 2 tents so we get to share one!"

"Oh, cool!"

"And he said I could bring a radio. He gave me this really tiny one."

"Riker! Riley! Do you guys have everything!? We're leaving in a few minutes!" Riley's dad called.

"Yeah, we're almost ready!" Riley called back.

Riley and I grabbed our backpacks and put them in the car. We sat in the backseat, and then we were off to the mountain to go camping.

When we finally arrived, it was about 9:00. We all got out and put our backpacks on. Riley's parents led the way. Riley and I followed. It started out fun. But then the bugs found us. And since it was the summer, we were wearing light clothes, so they could bite us all over. Riley finally remembered that she brought bug spray, and then it was a little bit better. But everything was really itchy now.

We kept walking and walking and walking. It wasn't too tiring though, because we kept stopping so Riley could rest. She still didn't have as much energy as she used to because she was still recovering, and her pills made her tired. But none of us really minded.

We stopped to have lunch sometime around noon. We ate sandwiches that Riley's mom had made us. Then we kept walking. And walking and walking and walking. Around dinnertime, I was tired. We stopped for the night since it was getting dark out, and Riley's dad made a fire to cook dinner. We had hotdogs and hamburgers. Riley took one of the tents and started trying to set it up.

"Need some help?" I asked, walking over to Riley.

"Yeah."

I helped Riley set the tent up. We put our sleeping bags inside, and then sat around the fire, and toasted marshmallows. We said goodnight to Riley's parents, and then got in our tent. Riley seemed to get more tense as the night went on.

Riley and I got in our sleeping bags, but we didn't go to sleep. We sat up and talked for a while.

"So did you have fun today?" I asked.

"Getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, walking for hours, and peeing outside? Oh yeah, best day of my life…"

"Riley."

"I didn't even want to go on this stupid trip. But my dad thinks it will be good for me to get out of the house without my phone for a few days."

"He's probably right."

"I don't care. I would've rather gone to Hawaii without my phone than the woods."

"Well I can't argue with that…"

"At least you're here."

"Riley?"

"Yeah?"

"Is anything bothering you?"

Riley looked away from me.

"The truth?" She asked.

"Yeah."

"Everything's bothering me."

"What?"

"Being in the woods at night, possibly getting eaten by a wild animal, Dylan… Everything that could possibly go wrong…"

"Riley, I think we're pretty safe here."

"I know… I just… keep thinking about Dylan."

"Why?"

"Well…"

"Riley, what?"

"You know how he's in some mental place?"

"Yeah?"

"Apparently it's pretty close to here."

"Riley, he's not getting out. We're going to walk up this mountain tomorrow, walk back down, and go back home, and guess what? Dylan's still going to be there no matter what."

Riley turned and laid down in her sleeping bag, facing away from me. I gently rubbed her back.

"Riley, we're going to be ok. And your parents are 30 feet away in their tent if anything happens, but it won't."

Riley sighed.

 **Later that night…**

 **Riker POV**

"Riker! Riker! Get up!"

Riley was shaking me.

"Wha…?"

"Riker!"

"What!? Did you have a dream again?"

"No! I heard something out there!"


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

 **Riker POV**

"You think you heard something?"

"Yes! What if it's Dylan!?" Riley whispered.

"Riley, I'm almost positive it's not Dylan."

"Will you go look?"

"Sure. Do you want to come? I'll show you there's nothing out there."

"I guess so…"

I held Riley's hand as we unzipped the tent door. We walked out into the woods for a few feet, and looked around.

"See? There's nothing there. We're fine," I said, pulling Riley back to the tent.

"You know, I almost wish it _was_ Dylan, just so you'd be wrong for once," Riley said, getting back into her sleeping bag.

Riley looked back up at me as I was leaving.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"I have to go to the bathroom."

"You're leaving me here all alone?"

"Well I can't wait until morning."

"But what if something happens while you're gone?"

"Riley, I'll only be gone for a minute. Come on, don't look at me like that. Don't make me feel guilty."

"Then don't go!"

"Riley, I have to go to the bathroom! What do you want me to do?"

"Wait until morning…"

"Riley."

"Fine, go. But promise you won't go far?"

"I won't go far."

"Promise you'll be back in less than a minute?"

"I'll try."

"Promise you'll-"

"Riley, can I please just go?"

"Fine. But if something happens to me, it's on you."

"Ok."

 **The Next Morning…**

 **Riker POV**

"Riker wake up!"

"Huh? What?"

"Come on!"

"What?"

"We're going to leave in like 10 minutes."

"What about breakfast?"

"We're eating on the way. Come on! We have to pack up the tent and our sleeping bags and stuff!"

"Ugh…"

"Riker! Get up!"

Just as I turned over on my back, a pillow came flying into my face.

"Riley!"

"Get up!"

"Ok, ok, I'm up!"

I helped Riley pack everything up, and then we were off again.

 **Later…**

 **Riker POV**

"Riley, stop!"

"What?"

"A bunch of stuff just spilled out of your backpack."

"Oh…"

Riley knelt down on the ground, and took off her backpack. There was stuff everywhere. I helped Riley pick everything up, which took a few minutes. She shoved everything back in her backpack, and then laid down on the ground.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah. I'm just tired. I didn't get much sleep last night, and we've been walking for ages!"

"I know. But we have to keep going. Come on."

"Ugh!"

"Riley!?"

"What?"

"Your parents are gone!"

"What!?"

Riley and I looked around. We weren't even exactly sure which way we had been moving before. There wasn't a trail.

"MOM!? DAD!?"

Silence.

"Which way do you think they went?" Riley asked.

"I honestly have no idea."

"What do we do!?"

"I'm not sure… We don't have our cell phones, so we can't call them or anything like that…"

"Oh, great. My dad was all like, you won't get lost, you'll be fine, we'll all be together! Ugh! What do we do?"

"I don't know."

"Well you're older! You'll have better judgement! What do we do!?"

"Uh…"

"Riker! Do something!"

"What do you want me to do!?"

"Get me back to my parents."

"I don't know that I can do that."

"Well which way do you think they went?"

"I don't know."

"Well what do you think?"

"I think they went… that way."

"Ok, well let's start walking that way."

"But what if that's not the way they went?"

"Then… we'll figure something else out."

"Are you sure?"

"I think it's our best chance right now."

"Ok, let's go."

After what felt like 20 minutes, I felt like we had gone the wrong way, because we hadn't seen her parents yet.

"Riley?"

"What?"

"I think we should probably turn around and go back."

"But what if we're only a few minutes away from them?"

"But what if we're not?"

"I think we should keep going."

"Fine…"

 **Later…**

 **Riker POV**

"Riley, it's getting dark, and we still haven't found your parents yet. This is bad."

"I know…"

"Well what are you planning on doing?"

"I don't know, Riker! I thought we were going to find them, but now we're lost, and we don't have cell phones! What are we supposed to do!?" Riley shouted, starting to cry.

"Riley, we're going to be ok. Please don't cry."

"Riker, we're lost in the woods! We're on a mountain somewhere! We're going to die!"

"We're not going to die. But you have to stay calm, ok? If you're not calm, we aren't going to be able to think straight. And we need to be able to think straight if we ever want to get out of here."

"Riker, I can't do this! We're lost! We're going to die! We need help!"

"Riley, shhh! Please! We're going to be fine. Calm down!"

"How can you say that!?"

"Riley, listen to me. You need to calm down, ok?"

"Riker!"

"I'm right here. Shhh. Come here. Sit down for a minute."

Riley sat down next to me, and leaned her head on my shoulder. I put my arm around her, and waited for her to calm down.

"Riker, what do we do?"

"We need to head down the mountain, and find people."

"How do we do that?"

"Well… I think that way is down."

"But it's getting dark."

"Well we better start walking then."

"Walk? What about sleep?"

"Riley, where are we going to sleep?"

"In sleeping bags in the tent…?"

"Which is where?"

"With my parents…"

"Come on. Let's start walking. We might be able to pull an all nighter, and make it back by morning if we don't take a lot of breaks. Then we can call your parents. They brought their cell phones, right?"

"Yeah, they're not stupid! They brought them in case they got lost."

"Ok. Well let's start moving, ok?"

"Fine."

Riley and I walked until it got dark, and then Riley stopped.

"What?" I asked.

"Let's put the radio on."

"Uh… Ok."

Riley pulled the small radio out of her backpack, and then found a station. She put it in one of the water bottle holders on the side of her backpack, and we kept moving.

"Riker, I can barely see anymore."

"It's ok, keep walking."

"But the guy on the radio said it's almost 1:00."

"Just keep going."

"Wait, shhh! What did the guy just say?"

Riley and I stood still, listening to the guy on the radio.

"No… That can't be true…" I mumbled.

"Riker, this is Cat Mountain, right?"

"Yup."

"And they said Dylan escaped in the woods of Cat Mountain, right?"

"Yup."

"So that means I'm going to die, right?"


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

 **Riker POV**

"Riley, you're not going to die. They'll probably catch him before he even gets very far. And even if they don't catch him right away, the chances of him even crossing paths with us are very small."

"Riker, some way, somehow, he'll find me. And I don't think he'll hesitate to kill me."

"But Riley, he doesn't even know we're here."

"But if he sees us, he'll know we're here!"

"Even if he did, there's 2 of us, and only 1 of him."

"He'll kill you too!"

"No he won't, Riley! He's never going to find us!"

"Riker!"

"Riley, come on. Let's just keep walking."

"But I'm tired!"

"So am I, but we need to get out of here."

"And why is that? Because you think Dylan's going to kill us!"

"Riley, whether Dylan's going to kill us or not, we still need to try to get out of the woods, and back to civilization."

"So you admit it!"

"I admit what?"

"You're scared that Dylan's going to kill us."

"Riley, I think it's highly unlikely-"

"Are you scared, yes or no?"

"…yes…"

"Now why was that so hard for you to say?"

"Because it's embarrassing!"

"Why? _I'm_ scared of Dylan!"

"But you're a girl, and I'm a guy."

"So? It doesn't matter. We're both humans. It's ok to be scared."

"Riley, come on, let's just keep walking."

"Wait. If Dylan _did_ find us… What would you do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Would you kill him?"

"Uh… Well I'm not a murderer like he is! I wouldn't want to. But I guess if it came down to it…"

"Riker, I'm so scared! We're lost in the woods at night with a murderer on the loose."

"Don't you trust me? I'll protect you."

"You'll protect me against Dylan?"

"I'll do whatever I can, Riley."

Riley turned and kept walking.

"Hey! Don't you trust me?"

"Riker… I just want to go home."

"But do you trust me?"

Riley kept walking.

"Hey!"

I grabbed Riley's hand, and made her stop.

"Riley. What's going on? I thought you trusted me. What happened?"

"Can we just keep walking?"

"Riley, wait. What's going on?"

"Riker, I just need some space, ok?"

"I can't exactly give you space. We're lost in the woods."

"I just… don't want to talk about it right now, ok?"

"Riley, I need to know what's going on. This can't wait. Tell me."

"I don't think… you can protect me from Dylan…"

"Riley, I told you, I'd do anything to protect you from him."

"What if that's not enough?"

"Riley, don't think like that."

"I can't help it! It's late, we're lost, I'm tired, there's a murderer out here with us, and I just want to go home!"

"Riley, shhh! If Dylan's nearby, you don't want him to hear us."

"We're going to die, Riker. Why not get it over with. Then I won't have to stress about it for hours."

"Riley, stop! You're giving up too easily! We can beat him! Oh come on, Riley! Don't give me that look! Don't you want to have a future together? We can make it out alive whether we see Dylan or not."

"I hope you're right…


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

 **Later…**

 **Riley POV**

"Riley, careful!" Riker shouted, pulling me away from the edge of a huge drop off.

"What?"

"I don't want you falling down there! You'd probably die! It's all sharp rocks over there!"

"Oh. Sorry."

I walked closer to Riker instead.

"I guess that _would_ be a stupid way to die. I mean considering the whole Dylan thing."

We heard movement in the woods, so we stopped for a second. Something came walking out of the woods right in front of us, and I felt like we were in a horror movie.

"I thought I heard my name! Hey _Riley_!" Dylan said, walking closer.

I backed up until I was against Riker.

"You must be surprised to see _me_! I tricked everyone into thinking I had gone mental. Then, I made a plan to escape, put it into action, and here I am. I never thought I would get a second chance to kill you _tonight_. I was sure I'd have to wait a few more days until I got out of these woods."

Riker pulled me so I was standing behind him. I held onto his hand tightly.

"But Riley, I'm also very surprised to see _you_. You look like you're doing better from our little… fight. Maybe if you had done what I had wanted, that wouldn't have happened. You got a second chance to live, but now I've got a second chance to kill you. I'm _not_ messing it up this time. And I'll kill your boyfriend too. You know, the one you're hiding behind."

I heard something weird, and the next thing I knew, Riker was on the ground, and Dylan was coming toward me. I looked down for a split second, and Riker had a knife in his leg! Riker started screaming in pain.

I started backing away from Dylan.

"How are you going to kill me? You don't have a weapon anymore!" I shouted.

"I wanted to do it with my own 2 hands. I thought it would be way more fun."

I could see Riker behind me, trying to pull the knife out. I kept backing up until I felt the ground move under me. I looked down, and I was at the edge of the drop off. There was nowhere to go now. Dylan kept moving until he was 2 feet away from me.

"Real smart, Riley. Back up to the edge of a cliff. Could you make this any easier?"

Dylan grabbed me and threw me to the ground, only inches from the edge. Dylan got on top of me, but I pushed him off, right over the edge. But he grabbed me, and pulled me with him. We were dangling on the edge of the cliff, trying to hold onto whatever we could, but there were only tiny bits of rocks everywhere. Everything was crumbling beneath us. I found a tree root to hold onto, but my arms were getting tired. Especially with Dylan trying to pull me down the cliff every second. He kept trying to knock my hands off. Dylan suddenly grabbed one of my hands, pried it off, and held onto it tight.

"One more hand, and you're gone."

"Dylan stop! You're going to kill us both!"

"Who cares? If we both die, I'll be plenty satisfied. All I care is that you're dead."

"RIKER!"

All I could think was that Riker was lying dead on the ground because he didn't come.

Dylan grabbed onto my shoulders, and put all of his weight on me. The root broke in half, and my hands were slowly sliding down.

"Dylan get off!"

"No! Let go, Riley! Just let go, and this will all be over!"

"No! Get off!"

I quickly pried my hand from Dylan, punched him hard in the face, and grabbed the root again before I slipped completely off. Dylan let go, and fell until I couldn't see him anymore. I tried climbing up a little more, but all the rocks on the side of the cliff were loose, and kept falling.

"RIKER! HELP _PLEASE_!" I screamed.

Seeing Riker's face pop up over the edge was the best thing I'd ever seen.

"Riker, help!"

I took one of Riker's hands. I put my other arm up on his shoulder. He put his arm under mine, and pulled me up. We collapsed on the ground in pain from everything. I suddenly sat up.

"Riker how's your leg!?"

"Not the best."

"Are you ok!? You probably need to go to the hospital and get stitches for that."

"Riley, it's fine for now. I wrapped it. What happened?"

"Wait. Why didn't you come the first time I called?"

"I was wrapping my leg. If I didn't, I would've started losing a lot of blood. I figured you could hold on another minute. If you had really needed me, you would've screamed a whole lot more."

"Yeah. You're probably right."

"What happened?"

"He's dead, Riker. He fell off the cliff, and he's dead."

"Are you sure?"

"No, but how could anyone survive _that_?"

"Good point."

"Do you want to keep walking? Or do you want to rest for your leg?"

"No, we have to keep going. I need to get to a hospital."

"Ok. Let's go."

"Riley, wait! What about you?"

"Me?"

"You're bleeding!"

"I am?"

"Yeah, your arms, legs, hands…"

"Oh. Probably from the rocks on the cliff."

"Riley, we should clean those."

"We don't have time. We need to get you home. If Dylan found us this quickly, we must be near civilization or at least the mental place, and then we can call an ambulance or something."

"Let's just start walking."

"Ok, Dylan came from over there, so we should probably head that way. Give me your backpack. There's no way I'm letting you carry that."

Watching Riker limp along was killing me inside. It was obvious he was in a lot of pain, but it seemed to me like he was trying to hide it or something.

"Riker?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah."

"I mean like _really_ ok? Are you… trying to hide it or something?"

"Riley, it hurts insanely bad, but it wouldn't get us any closer if I screamed every second. I'm just trying not to think about it."


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

 **Later…**

 **Riker POV**

"Riker! I see lights! But they're… moving?"

"It's probably cars."

"We're near a road!"

Riley and I found the road, and walked along side it until we started getting closer to the town.

"Riker! We're close to home! See!? It's the town of Bolton! 5 more minutes, and we're home!"

We finally arrived at our road. We slowly walked to our houses.

"Stay here! Let me run in and get my phone!" Riley said.

I sat down on the side of the road, waiting for Riley to come back.

"Ok, it's almost 4:30 in the morning. I've got my phone, and my car keys. Let's go to the hospital."

"Wait Riley. Can you go get Rocky?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"He's had more sleep than us, and he'll probably be able to think straighter. We'll have him drive us."

"That's a good idea."

Riley got the spare key to my house, and went inside. A few minutes later, Riley and Rocky came walking out. Riley and I got in the back of her car, and Rocky drove us to the hospital.

 **Later…**

 **Riker POV**

"Riker, I called my parents and told them what happened. They're glad we're ok, and glad that Dylan's gone. And Rocky called your house. Everything's ok now. And my parents said they'd be back in about 2 days. Oh, and the doctors said you can leave now," said Riley.

I had gotten stitches in my leg, and Riley had gotten cleaned up a little.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Around 9:00. You slept for a couple of hours."

"Did _you_ get any sleep?"

"No. I wanted to make sure you were ok."

I smiled.

"Well now what?"

"Now Rocky drives us home."

"What about after that?"

"Well… I don't know…"

"Your parents won't be back until when?"

"Probably late tomorrow night."

"You'll be all alone."

"Not if you come over."

"I don't have anything to protect you from though."

"So? Why can't you just come over because you love me and you don't want me to be alone?"

"Ok."

 **Later that night…**

 **Riker POV**

I knocked on Riley's door. I was already wearing my pajamas. I was just ready to relax. And lucky for me, that's also what Riley had in mind.

"So tonight, we're not doing anything special. Just relaxing, and enjoying our time together," said Riley.

"Sounds great."

Riley pulled me over to the couch. We watched a movie and ate popcorn until it got late.

"Riker?"

"Yeah?"

"What's wrong?"

"What do you mean? I'm fine."

"Something's bothering you. I can tell. You didn't really focus on the movie. You were thinking."

I looked down.

"Riker? Here, let's take a break. We'll go walk down to the docks and talk, ok?"

"Ok…"

We walked down to the docks in the dark. There were a lot of stars out tonight. I sat down next to Riley, and we let our feet hang in the water.

"Riker, please tell me what's bothering you. I want to help."

I broke down in front of Riley, and started crying. Not only did I feel bad for almost letting her get killed, but now I was embarrassed for crying, and I couldn't stop. It was just a mess.

"Hey, Riker. It's ok. Tell me what's wrong. I want to help."

Riley took my hand in hers, and rubbed my back slowly.

"Riley, I almost let you get killed! It would have been all my fault, and I don't think I would be able to live with myself!"

"Riker, it's ok! I'm fine! I'm here! Everything's ok. Is that what was bothering you?"

"Yeah. I almost let you get killed. Today was almost the worst day of my life. I almost lost you twice, Riley."

"It's ok. Awww. Please don't cry, Riker."

"I'm an awful boyfriend."

"No you're not!"

"How do you still love me, Riley!? I almost let you die!"

"Riker, you've done so much for me! And I know you did your best during the whole Dylan thing. And guess what? Your best was good enough. I'm still here. Riker, you've done so much. And I know how much you love me. You're the most perfect boyfriend I could think of. And I love you so much."

"Riley, I haven't even been brave enough to kiss you yet! How can you think I'm perfect!?"

"Riker, you wanted to wait for the right time. There's nothing wrong with that."

"Riley… I don't know how… Do you really still love me?"

"Yeah. I'll always love you, Riker. Nothing could change that."

"I love you too Riley. I'm just glad you're ok."

Riley intertwined our fingers, wiped the tears off my face, and laughed.

"What?" I asked.

"You're just so sweet. I don't know how I ever ended up finding someone as great as you. I've had to deal with Dylan so long, it's just so different being around someone who actually loves me."

"I _do_ love you, Riley… more than anything…"

Riley looked up at me. Now was the time. I could just feel it. I leaned in and kissed her. It was different from any other kiss because this one was with Riley, and I truly loved her, and she truly loved me.

 **The End.**

 **Thank you all for reading. This story was somewhat hard to write because I never knew which way I wanted the story to go. I was originally going to end it when Riley recovered from the attack, but it felt too short, so I kept writing. For the longest time I tried to think of how I wanted to end it, and once I thought of it, I couldn't stop writing. My next story will be a sequel to** ** _The_** ** _Perfect_** ** _Summer_** ** _Vacation_** **. I've been putting it off for the longest time, so now I'm finally doing it. It'll be called** ** _The_** ** _Lie_** **. And there will be a sequel to this story at the same time. The sequel will be called _Dylan's_ _Revenge_. Thanks for reading. 3 Kylie**


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